Gigabit January 2019

AN INCLUSIVE PLATFORM FOR WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY 

www.gigabitmagazine.com 

JANUARY 2019 

A DIGITAL DISRUPTOR IN 

THE MEDIA SECTOR 

DAVID KLINE DISCUSSES HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN 

DRIVE AN EXCITING ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE 

TOP 10 

highest valued 

tech unicorns 

A CUSTOMER- 

FOCUSED PROCUREMENT 

TRANSFORMATION

IF YOU LIKE US 

, FOLLOW US!! 

04 

EDITOR IN CHIEF 

Laura Mullan................... 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Andrew Woods.............. 

Olivia Minnock............... 

CREATIVE DIRECTOR 

Daniel Crawford............ 

CREATIVE TEAM 

Frazer Jones..................... 

Mitchell Park................... 

Lucie Miller...................... 

Hollie Crofts–Morris...... 

Erin Hancox..................... 

Alicia Lolotte................... 

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR 

Georgia Allen....................... 

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE 

Daniela Kianickova...... 

DIGITAL VIDEO DIRECTOR 

Josh Trett........................... 

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER 

Emily Amos...................... 

SOCIAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE 

Callum Rivett.................. 

PROJECT DIRECTORS 

Justin Brand..................... 

Charlotte Clarke............ 

Craig Daniels................... 

Mike Sadr.......................... 

Alex Page........................... 

Kristofer Palmer............ 

Lewis Vaughan............... 

OPERATIONS DIRECTOR 

Alex Barron...................... 

UK MANAGING DIRECTOR 

James Pepper.................. 

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER 

Andy Turner.................... 

PRESIDENT & CEO 

Glen White....................... 

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WELCOME 

Hello and welcome to the latest 

issue of Gigabit magazine! 

With renowned brands like MTV, 

Comedy Central and Nickelodeon 

under its umbrella, Viacom graces the 

screens of viewers the world over. For 

this month’s cover feature, Olivia 

Minnock spoke with Viacom’s David 

Kline to learn how the global entertainment 

content company plans to stay 

abreast of digital disruption. 

Estimates suggest that the amount 

of data that will be subject to analysis 

will grow 50-fold by 2025 – this is where 

Tableau Software hopes to make its mark 

on the sector. Following the firm’s 

annual conference, we sat down with 

CEO Adam Selipsky to learn how the 

firm hopes to cement its position as 

a data analytics powerhouse. 

Elsewhere, as the need for software 

grows at an exponential rate, Mendix’s 

Chief Technology Officer gives the 

low-down on how low-code development 

could offer a unique solution. 

For this month’s issue, we’ll also round 

up the top industry events from around 

the world and we investigate the top 

ten highest valued tech unicorns from 

across the globe. 

On top of this, we’ll also take an in-depth 

look at some of the companies shaking 

up their sectors, with reports on companies 

such as Nedbank, BlackBerry 

and ABC. 

We hope you enjoy this month’s 

bumper issue and, as ever, you can find 

us across social media @GigabitMag 

Enjoy the issue! 

Laura Mullan. 

Laura.mullan@bizclikmedia.com 

05 

www.gigabitmagazine.com

CONTENTS 

10 

CTO David Kline on staying abreast of a 

technology transformation and how it stays 

abreast of a vast, rapidly evolving landscape 

34 

48 

TACKLING THE 

DATA MOUNTAIN 

Mendix: Redefining 

app development 

with a low-code 

approach

58 

76 

Fannie Mae 

96 

BlackBerry 

122 

Radius Networks 

138 

Truliant Federal 

Credit Union 

150 

Bray International

Met Office 

178 

192 

INEA 

164 

Johnson Brothers 

Liquor Co 

Edwardian Hotels London 

206 

Universidad Europea 

222 

UiPath 

236

Nedbank 

250 

Ayanda Saki 

272 

ABC 

286 

Fakeeh Healthcare 

300 

Daimler 

312 

Siemens 

330 

09

TECHNOLOGY 

TRANSFORMATION 

10 

DRIVES AN EXCITING 

CONTENT EXPERIENCE 

AT VIACOM 

WRIT TEN BY 

OLIVIA MINNOCK 

PRODUCED BY 

GLEN WHITE 

JANUARY 2019

NORTH AMERICA 

11 


VIACOM 

GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY 

VIACOM’S CTO DAVID KLINE DISCUSSES 

THE COMPANY’S TECHNOLOGY 

TRANSFORMATION AND HOW IT 

STAYS ABREAST OF A VAST, 

RAPIDLY EVOLVING LANDSCAPE 

12 

With universally renowned brands from MTV and 

Comedy Central to Nickelodeon and Paramount 

Pictures under its umbrella, for almost 50 years 

global entertainment company Viacom has been 

delighting viewers the world over. With a commitment to 

delivering quality content through a wide range of digital 

media, the company operates across a range of markets 

and places technology at the forefront of maintaining a 

quality, tailored experience. 

Behind the significant digital transformation Viacom 

has undergone in order to achieve such lofty aims is 

David Kline, Executive Vice President and Chief Information 

and Technology Officer. With eight years at the 

media behemoth under his belt, Kline has enjoyed a 

35-year career focusing on technology and has been 

fascinated by the development of digital. “I got to see 

technology from yesteryear – punch cards and reel-toreel 

tape,” he recalls. “And the world was changing 

because there were connectivity opportunities across 

longer distances… through to today, where you can 

connect via the cloud. 

“I’m really thrilled to have seen those journeys. They’re 

happening faster, almost at lightning speed, today.” All 


NORTH AMERICA 

13 


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Viacom is a media industry leader and one of 

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development, and support of their ongoing digital 

transformation. 

Viacom works closely with REDspace to connect 

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ever-shifting and expanding array of platforms and 

devices. REDspace has helped shape the network’s 

entire digital strategy—re-architecting and building 

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NORTH AMERICA 

this experience lit up a fascination with 

the “art of the possible” for Kline, which 

he has brought to his team at Viacom. 

“We aim to identify what’s possible for 

the divisions we guide and influence – 

whether it’s advertising, production, 

research, distribution… it is important to 

understand what they’re doing and deliver 

the technology that works for them.” 

At the time of its fruition in the 1970s, 

Viacom was something of a “walled 

garden”. “It was very segregated from 

the rest of the world,” says Kline. “As 

the world grew, digital connectivity 

became more of an opportunity, like we 

see today with apps and connected 

devices – now, everywhere you go, 

there is some kind of digital footprint.” 

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY THROUGH TECH 

As technology has developed, so too 

have customer expectations across 

the various demographics Viacom 

caters for. “The millennial audience 

really took a whole new swing at what 

connectivity meant – they want what 

they want when they want it. We have 

to be able to deliver that,” he explains, 

adding that nowadays on-demand 

programming is an expectation rather 

17 

EXECUTIVE PROFILE 

David Kline 

Having been at Viacom for eight years, David Kline provides 

strategic leadership for the company’s technology infrastructure 

and oversees Viacom’s Online Central Platform 

Technology and Interactive Services, Content Creation 

and Distribution Technology, Application Development 

and Information Security and Compliance. During his 

time at the company, Kline has led several successful initiatives 

as well as developing and promoting a strong, 

diverse team of talented people. Prior to working at 

Viacom, Kline served as Executive Vice President of Technology 

and CTO at Discovery Communications, having 

also held senior technology roles at Rainbow Media 


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NORTH AMERICA 

“THE MILLENNIAL 

AUDIENCE REALLY TOOK 

A WHOLE NEW SWING AT 

WHAT CONNECTIVITY 

MEANT – THEY WANT 

WHAT THEY WANT, 

WHEN THEY WANT IT” 

— 

David Kline, 

EVP and Chief Information and 

Technology Officer, Viacom 

19 

than an added extra. “How do we make 

that more dynamic?” Kline asks. “How 

do we update that content so that you 

have a larger library? How do we add 

advertising that’s not stale and 

changes with the times?” 

In an increasingly connected world, 

Viacom works to ensure a consistent, 

quality and above all exciting service 

for consumers regardless of location, 

device, platform or demographic. “We 

have 84 apps on 11 different platforms 

– whether it’s Roku, Apple TV, iOS, 

Android, PlayStation… We’re in 180 

different countries, so when you see 

MTV in the US, UK, Poland or Singapore… 

each brand has opportunities to 

be more effective in certain spaces. 

For example, Latin America is more 

Android-driven, and so while Roku is a 

great platform in the US, we have 

growing platforms in Europe like 

Amazon and Netflix.” 

In addition, short form content, like 

the video footage shared across 

Snapchat, Facebook or Twitter to 

promote a new TV series, is an 

increasingly lucrative focus, paying 


VIACOM 

20 

“YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR 

AUDIENCE, HOW THE DEMO- 

GRAPHIC IS SHIFTING, 

AND WHAT’S RELEVANT. 

IT’S VITAL TO STAY TUNED 

IN AND DELIVER ON 

WHAT THE CONSUMER 

IS EXPECTING” 

— 

David Kline, 




NORTH AMERICA 

growing dividends. “We need to make 

sure we’re aligned with the generations 

in terms of what they want to consume 

– creating original short form, not just 

taking pieces of a show. You have to 

know your audience, how the demographic 

is shifting, and what’s relevant. 

It’s vital to stay tuned in and deliver on 

what the consumer is expecting.” 

DRIVING A TECHNOLOGY 


With a mission to entertain and excite 

firmly at its heart, Viacom has used 

technology as a driver of growth – but 

has done so thoughtfully, ensuring that 

new technologies are implemented to 

make positive change for various 

stakeholders, rather than chasing what 

Kline calls the “bright, shiny object”. 

“Cloud computing is a great example,” 

he says. “We started looking at cloud 

when it first came out, and at the time 

we weren’t ready to make a jump.” 

While cloud technology offers storage 

solutions, Viacom already had extensive 

– and expensive – infrastructure in 

place for this. 

However, the business did implement 

cloud technology for its live 

events, posting interactive social media 

21 


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NORTH AMERICA 

content and creating live video footage 

at the likes of the VMAs and Kids’ 

Choice Awards. Since then, Kline’s 

team has felt enabled and empowered 

by the cloud, and after abating 

cybersecurity concerns by rolling out 

the new tech slowly and sensitively, 

Viacom now has its full Office productivity 

in the Cloud with Office365. “It’s 

about overcoming fears, being smart 

enough and strong enough to say, ‘we 

need to focus because change is 

coming’. That’s something you have to 

grapple with in any leadership role – 

especially technology.” 

As such, Kline is no stranger to the 

culture shift involved in a technology 

transformation – and he says both 

listening and educating are key to 

change management. “It’s important to 

listen to what’s going on in the world 

and within the company, and understand 

different needs. Rather than just 

putting in technology for technology’s 

sake, have a rationale and a really 

responsible understanding of why 

you’re doing it. As technology shifts, 

with Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G for 

example, it’s important to make sure 

everyone has an understanding of 

what it is and not to be fearful, but 

“AS TECHNOLOGY SHIFTS, 

IT’S IMPORTANT TO 

MAKE SURE EVERYONE 

HAS AN UNDERSTANDING 

OF WHAT IT IS AND 

NOT TO BE FEARFUL, 

BUT INQUISITIVE” 

— 

David Kline, 



inquisitive. What does this mean to me? 

To the people I serve? To our industry? 

And how do we approach it?” 

SMOOTH TRANSMISSION 

As well as improving the way content is 

enjoyed, technology has been vital in 

improving process within Viacom’s 

operations. “The product teams work 

very centrally with my technical teams, 

and we’re all focused on making sure 

anything across our platforms, from 

video to data, is functional, scalable 

and is being delivered,” says Kline. 

Over the past few years, a key 

achievement has been centralizing 

code to develop single code base – 

with WebPlex used for websites and 

23 


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NORTH AMERICA 

PlayFlex used for apps. “We’re now 

down to a single web base so I can 

deliver the same backend for MTV in 

Poland as I do for Nickelodeon in the 

US. It’s the same with apps. This is a 

pleasing and lucrative opportunity for 

the business to be able to go out and 

sign deals, knowing they can get 

something up and running in a matter 

of hours.” 

Yet more technologies are set to 

improve Viacom’s operations, with 

automation affording staff time for 

more value-adding tasks. “We’re 

looking at innovative ideas around 

machine learning and AI, as well as 

RPA (robotic process automation). It’s 

given our team back some time to 

really focus on the next generation and 

what’s to come, while still delivering on 

what’s necessary today.” 

“We’re big believers in consumer 

likes and dislikes – how do I make sure 

it’s not disruptive for them while it’s 

disruptive for us? Obviously, changes 

– like introducing AR and VR – are 

disruptions. They could be good 

disruptions or dramatic disruptions, but 

the goal is to make it perfectly seamless, 

regardless of whether it’s on 

television or another device – perhaps 

eventually a HoloLens.” 

25 


VIACOM 

26 

Centralization enables staff to really 

concentrate on this frictionless 

development – for example, a single 

service desk within Viacom is available 

for any problem, from lost keys to a 

serious tech malfunction. “With that, 

we continue to automate a lot of the 

tools we have – we’re using chat and 

automated tickets,” Kline explains. 

Further, the company has created 

application stacks for staff to download 

all the software they need onto a 

device at once and has automated 

solutions from HR and payroll to ERP 

utilizing SAP’s best-in-class platform. 

THE PERFECT PARTNER 

No technology transformation can take 

place in isolation, especially one which 

takes place internally and externally 

across 180 markets. As such, Viacom 

works closely with its vendors and 

partners – including Adobe, Redspace, 

Canoe Ventures, Insight and Freewheel, 

to name but a few – to ensure 

technology can be a true enabler for 

the business. 

“Vendor management’s hugely 

important,” says Kline. “I have a vendor 

management office – a small group of 

people who work closely with my 


NORTH AMERICA 

27 


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CLICK TO WATCH: ‘COMPANY OVERVIEW 2018’ 

29 

“AUTHENTICATION 

WITH ADOBE PASS IS 

A GREAT EXAMPLE 

WHICH VIACOM 

HELPED CRAFT. IT 

SHOWS THE COMPANY 

HAS THE INGENUITY 

AND CREATIVITY TO 

REALLY HELP PUSH 

PRODUCTS FORWARD” 

— 

David Kline, 



internal group, third party parents and 

vendors, and our sourcing team. It’s a 

three-way connection. In many cases, 

Viacom has a rich history of enabling 

vendors to build products we inspired, or 

else we have built them ourselves and 

pushed the intellectual property off to a 

vendor if that makes sense for the rest 

of the globe. Authentication with Adobe 

Pass is a great example which Viacom 

helped craft. It shows the company has 

the ingenuity and creativity to really help 

push other products forward – not just 

content but technology.” 

While Kline is a keen negotiator – “I 


VIACOM 

30 


NORTH AMERICA 

believe everything is free until you tell me 

otherwise” – he also stresses that relationships 

must be collaborative to thrive. “The worst thing 

you can do is bleed a vendor to a point where 

they’re ready to go out of business, or can’t 

support something you’ve taught them to 

support… the best thing you can do is work 

together for the best cost and best possible 

product that shines for both them and you.” 

Together with its partners and vendors, the 

organization that brings us entertainment in all 

its forms from award ceremonies to movies will 

continue to utilize technology to ensure its 

diverse content is enjoyed. “At Viacom, we’re big 

on long range plans,” says Kline. The organization 

is already pushing its 2022 strategy, and 

though there is no telling what technology will 

look like in three years’ time, Kline is dedicated 

to keep to an overall vision of satisfying customers. 

“That really drives the type of technologies 

we’re looking to focus on,” he explains. “It’s 

important to really bond with what the company’s 

strategies are and make sure we’re thinking 

that through both the immediate lens as well as 

the long-range plans.” 

31 


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DIGITAL STRATEGY 

34 

TACKLING THE 

DATA MOUNTAIN 


35 

AFTER THE WHIRLWIND OF ITS 

ANNUAL CONFERENCE, WE SAT 

DOWN WITH TABLEAU SOFTWARE 

CEO, ADAM SELIPSKY, TO LE ARN 

HOW THE FIRM HAS ESTABLISHED 

ITSELF AS A POWERHOUSE IN DATA 

ANALYTICS IN VISUALISATION 

WRITTEN BY LAURA MULLAN 



36 

He may have just touched down in London 

after a transatlantic flight, but Tableau Software’s 

President and CEO, Adam Selipsky, 

is feeling energised. He’s made the journey not long 

after Tableau’s annual conference in New Orleans 

— an electrifying get-together of self-confessed 

data-geeks, who are invested in what the data analytics 

and visualisation firm has got up its sleeve. “It’s 

not really like any other tech conference,” Selipsky 

says, “You almost have to be there to really understand 

it; the level of excitement and passion is incredible. 

It’s not just a gathering of technology people, 

it’s really a community coming together.” 

To say that Tableau has a strong fan base would 

be an understatement – and it has the numbers to 

back this claim. Over 17,000 customers and 

partners came to its conference in New Orleans 

and today, the firm claims to have over 50,000 

customer accounts. It also won over the backing 

of Selipsky, who joined the firm just two years ago. 

Before that, he had his made his mark at Amazon 

Web Services (AWS), helping to grow the enterprise 

from a startup to a multi-billion-dollar business and 

a leader in cloud computing. “I think AWS taught me 

a lot about how to scale a company,” he reflects. 

“The product needs to work differently at scale, the 

way you communicate internally needs to work 

differently to scale, the way that you interact with 

your customers and who your customers are changes 

as you grow, particularly if you’re growing rapidly.” 

Spending over a decade at AWS, Selipsky made 


a name for himself in the tech sphere but 

what was it that won him over at Tableau? 

“Despite really enjoying my time at AWS, 

when this opportunity to come to Tableau 

came along, it was such an exciting area 

around data and analytics, such a passionate 

group of customers and such a great product 

that it was just irresistible to me,” he says. 

“The company also has this really unusual 

“It’s not just a gathering 

of technology people, 

it’s really a community 

coming together” 

— 

Adam Selipsky, 

CEO, Tableau 

37 

and unique asset – and that’s the Tableau 

community. It’s an incredibly energising 

group to be a part of and frankly, it’s also an 

incredibly important asset for the company. 

It’s not easily matched by spending money on 

it. It’s something I think has been very carefully 

nurtured over a great number of years.” 

From Jaguar to Barclays, Aer Lingus to 

Google, Tableau’s customer list makes for 

impressive reading. Not only does the firm 

have faithful fans, but it also has a sense of 

purpose, claims Selipsky. The Seattle-head- 



38 

quartered firm was founded with the goal of 

solving one of the most challenging problems 

in software – making databases and spreadsheets 

understandable to ordinary people. 

As the proliferation of data at our 

fingertips grows exponentially, 

this goal could prove to be even 

more vital. “Recent estimates 

from the IBC suggest that 

between now and 2025, the 

amount of data in the world 

that’s subject to analysis is going 

to grow 50-fold,” notes Selipsky. 

“I think a lot of organisations are 

just going to get crushed under 

the weight of that data whilst 

many others are going to see 

brand new opportunities to 

develop insights and make 

better decisions based on all of that data. Regardless of whether 

your organisation sees data as a problem or an opportunity, there’s 

an urgent need for analytical capabilities to deal with it, 

and again, to make better decisions faster.” 

“We talk about having the 

software ‘fall away’ so 

that it’s just you having 

a conversation with your 

data and that’s still at the 

very centre of what we 

do as a company” 

— 


CEO, Tableau 

This is where Tableau Software has managed to carve a unique 

path in the sector. By helping people see and understand data, the 

firm believes the opportunities for business are endless. “Ultimately, 

we use data to make better decisions faster — that’s the goal. I think 

that human beings happen to interact with data very well in a visual 

setting. It’s just the way we’re wired. So, if you show a human being 

a sea of numbers it’s just not as meaningful as if you organised that 

data visually and there are many studies that illustrate that. I think 


Tableau has gotten ahead and emerged as a 

leader by taking 

a very intuitive, beautiful, and highly interactive 

approach to visualising data. We talk 

about having the software ‘fall away’ so that 

it’s just you having a conversation with your 

data and that’s still at the very centre of what 

we do as a company.” Whether it’s being 

used to analyse energy efficiency, industrial 

performance political outcomes and more, 

the use of data is becoming commonplace in 

almost every sector. Not only has it become 

more prevalent but the wealth of information 

and data on offer has also swelled. As such, 

Tableau has not only focused on visualisation 

and analytics but has also had to consider 

other pressing questions like how society 

should manage this vast amount of information? 

As companies deal with more customers 

who bring with them more data, it’s no longer 

just a case of visualising and analytics, data 

management has also emerged as a top 

priority. “If we have more and more data, we 

also have more and more data sources,” 

Selipsky explains. “If we have thousands of 

people accessing data sources in our 

organisation, how do they even know what 

data sources to access? How will they know 

what data is available to them? There’s 

a whole series of data management challenges 

and that’s become a really important 

39 



40 

part of what we’re enabling as well.” As such the firm 

recently unveiled a new capability called Tableau 

Prep, that manages data and ensures that its clean, 

consistent, organised and the right data needed for 

analysis. 

The technology sector is famed for its ability to 

morph and change in the blink of an eye and therefore, 

continuous improvement has emerged as 

a well-versed mantra at Tableau. For Selipsky, this 

means Tableau can’t be satisfied with its current 

offering and should also push itself one step further 

to make the platform more intuitive, more accessible 

and more user-friendly. “We’re in the age of analytic 

ubiquity,” claims Selipsky. “This means analytics is 

going to be used very broadly, very pervasively, by 

“I think a lot of o 

just going to g 

the weight of 

many others a 

brand new op 

develop insig 

better decisio 

— 


CEO, Tableau 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘TABLEAU SOFTWARE - SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS 

IN SECONDS’ 


ganisations are 

et crushed under 

that data whilst 

re going to see 

portunities to 

hts and make 

ns” 

knowledge workers around the world. But 

then you’ve got to ask yourself: ‘what needs 

to happen, what are the capabilities that 

companies like Tableau need to unlock to 

enable tens of thousands of users inside 

a large bank or retailer to use data and 

analytics?’” Tableau believes it has found 

the answer: natural language processing. 

Manifested in the firm’s latest roll-out called 

Data Ask, this capability uses this technology 

to allow everyday people to make 

simple requests from their data using 

everyday language. 

“We want to make data and analytics 

evermore intuitive, evermore natural, evermore 

familiar, to the way that the human brain 

already works and that’s why we’re using 

natural language because it feels natural,” 

explains Selipsky. “Now, instead of learning 

software and understanding what dimensions 

and measures are, you can simply type 

a question, such as: ‘What are the most 

expensive housing neighbourhoods in 

London?’ Then there’s complicated 

algorithms and sophisticated query parts 

that goes on in the background, to render 

a visualisation that is extremely relevant to 

that question that you asked.” This may seem 

like simple innovation but the nuts and bolts 

are highly intricate. To complete this question, 

the platform needs to understand what 

41 



42 

‘neighbourhood’ means, what ‘London’ 

means, what expensive means’ and 

there also needs to be a time period 

specified. “Interpreting and producing 

relevant results is actually very hard 

work,” adds Selipsky. “This is the first 

release of that capability, but I think if 

we do our jobs well and we continue 

to innovate in this area, I think there’s 

a good chance we look back at the 

release of Data Ask and say that it 

was a turning point.” 

Data literacy is a critical skill for the 

21st century. By 2020, Gartner 

predicts that 80% of organisations 

will start to roll out internal data literacy 

initiatives to upskill their workforce. 

Wanting to stay ahead of the curve, 

Tableau has launched Academics, 

a programme that has so far helped 

680,000 students and faculty to use 

Tableau. On top of this, Tableau has 

also partnered with British training 

provider, AVADO, to launch apprenticeships 

and training programmes in the 

UK. According to a recent study by 

Nesta, investment in data skills could 

help boost UK productivity by 3%, 

equivalent to roughly one-fifth of the 

UK’s productivity gap with other G7 

countries, so this programme could go 



43


‘By 2020, Gartner 

predicts that 80% 

of organisations 

will start to roll out 

internal data literacy 

initiatives to upskill 

their workforce’ 

44 

some way to bridging this data skills 

gap. “Data literacy is a big issue and 

I think the apprenticeship programme 

is interesting because we’ve tapped 

into this growing movement and put our 

resources behind it,” notes Selipsky. 

“It’s a fairly new and exciting capability 

and it’s being driven, nowhere faster 

than in the UK.” 

Tableau is a firm believer that facts 

and analytical reasoning can not only 

transform a business but could also 

solve some of the world’s most demanding 

problems. Recognising this, the firm 

established the Tableau Foundation, 

a philanthropic body that works with 

over 5,000 organisations to provide 

software, training services, and 

financial support to help tackle issues 

like climate action, hunger, education, 

gender equality, global health, poverty 

and more. “The Tableau Foundation has 

committed to provide US$100mn in 

software services and direct financial 

support by 2025 and, to help enable 

that, Tableau is making a US$25mn 

equity contribution to the Tableau 

Foundation,” adds Selipsky. “We’re very 

committed to that mission, we’re excited 

about the great work the foundation and 

our partners have done together but we 

think there’s still more to do.” 


Over the past decade, there’s been 

a sea change when it comes to the 

industry’s perception of data. Enterprises, 

employers, non-profits alike are 

recognising its merits and as the data 

wave pushes forward, Tableau stands 

set to benefit from this tailwind. For 

businesses’ looking to tap into data 

Selipsky’s advice is simple: get the 

culture right and the sky’s the limit. 

“Anytime a company talks about 

change, leadership plays a crucial role 

in driving it,” he observes. “I think 

fundamentally it’s about setting that 

direction and saying, ‘we are going to 

make decisions in a way that is 

different to what we have done in the 

past’. I think there are some tactical 

things that help make that happen: 

I think the creation of centres of 

excellence around data and analytics 

really help to create a lightning rod for 

the organisation to turn to. Overall, 

providing that leadership and showing 

the organisation the roadmap that 

they’re going to be heading is crucial.” 

45 


DIGITAL DISRUPTION 

48 

Mendix: Redefining 

app development with 

a low-code approach 

As the race for software development heats up, 

we speak to Chief Technology Officer, Johan den 

Haan, to learn how Mendix is turning the industry 

on its head with low code development 




49


50 

It’s no secret that software development is 

often what separates disrupters from the 

disrupted. With a few taps and swipes of 

our devices we can now get a takeaway 

delivered straight to our door, track where 

our taxi is located or book an apartment in 

the blink of an eye. Industries across the 

world have been upended by software 

applications and the competition for coders 

is heating up. In the US, for example, the 

employment of software developers is 

predicted to grow 24% from 2016 to 2026, 

and as firms scramble to attract talent, skill 


shortages are becoming commonplace. This 

is where low-code platform, Mendix, hopes 

to offer a helping hand by allowing 

companies to build software at 

unprecedented speed and scale. 

Chief Technology Officer, Johan den Haan, 

has worked at Mendix since almost its 

genesis, in fact he first cut his teeth in the 

company 13 years’ ago. In the beginning, he 

said the firm’s biggest challenge was trying 

to convince the market of merits of a new 

approach to developing applications. 

"Mendix has always focused on improving 

how people build software: making sure that 

they could do it faster, collaboratively and 

with control. Yet, when we started, we really 

had to convince people that they should use 

cloud-based software and that they should 

use digital tools rather than coding. Then 

there came a market shift whereby market 

analysts realised that we could no longer 

deliver all the software that we need with the 

existing technology approach.” Like it or not, 

any company – whether it’s in financial 

services, telecommunications or transportation 

– is a software company, at least they 

should be to compete in today’s digital age. 

However, many don’t have the necessary 

capacity to do so due to a chronic shortage 

of coders in the market. In the UK, for 

instance, a report by Tech Nation highlights 

51 



52 

that over 50% of the UK’s digital tech 

businesses say they are facing 

a shortage of skilled workers. 

This is where low-code platforms 

like Mendix offer an interesting 

alternative. The idea behind it is simple: 

low-code platforms allow firms to 

create apps without the need to code. 

Instead of writing lines of intricate 

coding language, the platform uses 

a more visual approach involving 

drag-and-drop components and 

graphics. This relieves highly-skilled 

software developers so that they can 

focus on more value-adding tasks, 

helps firms develop vast amounts of 

code quicker, and it also helps to 

encourage collaboration across 

departments creating what den Haan 

describes as ‘BizDevOps.’ “We really 

are changing the paradigm of how we 

look at software development,” he 

explains. “Low-code enables people to 

build software up to 10 times faster 

which solves part of the skills gap. You 

also have greater collaboration: instead 

of a programmer building the application 

with input from someone in 

business operations, people in the 

business units can actually be part of 

the development team. This is beneficial 

as they’re able to bring a greater 


“We really are 

changing the 

paradigm of 

how we look 

at software 

development” 

— 

Johan den Haan, 

Chief Technology Officer, Mendix 

understanding of the problem they’re trying 

to solve and they can directly influence 

software delivery. You could say that you 

have what we call BizDevOps teams. 

“That is, of course, the goal, it’s not about 

technology. It’s about enabling the business 

to grow faster, to reinvent itself, to add 

something to the market,” he adds, pointing 

out that Mendix defines itself as a ‘digital 

transformation enabler.’ This may seem an 

unorthodox approach to application development 

but its proven to be a hit, gaining 

backing from some of the sector’s most 

disruptive technology behemoths. In August, 

for instance, Siemens AG put its weight 

behind low-code development when it 

53 



54 

acquired Mendix for US$730mn in 

cash. Den Haan believes that this 

signifies how low-code development is 

here to stay. “It’s important to note that 

Siemens is investing more into Mendix 

over the next three years than they 

bought the company for. This is one of 

the biggest investments in the lowcode 

market to date. The physical and 

digital world are quickly converging, 

you can no longer imagine a product or 

company that doesn’t have software at 

its core and I think Siemens has 

recognised this. If you don't grow as a 

company and become a software 

company you will quickly become 

irrelevant. I think that is what digital 

transformation is all about – it’s about 

transforming your company to 

becoming a digital native.” 

Take Zurich Insurance, who used 

Mendix’s low-code development 

platform to build a so-called ‘face 

quote app’ to encourage young people 

to enter the insurance market. “They 

had a wild idea whereby they wanted to 

allow people to take a selfie and use 

artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the 

age of the person so that they could 

give them an age-appropriate quote.” 

Using Mendix’s platform they built the 

app quickly and more recently they’ve 

been nominated for an innovation 

award based on this application. Most 

importantly though, den Haan, points 

out that although Mendix is a technology 

vendor, housing a technology 

platform is just a small part of what it 

“It’s not about 

technology. It’s 

about enabling 

the business to 

grow faster, to 

reinvent itself, to 

add something 

to the market” 

— 




does. Enabling business value is the 

end goal, and it has a four-step proven 

plan to make it happen. “We call it the 

four P’s: portfolio, people, process and 

platform,” comments den Haan. “We 

also start small: we ask the company to 

identify a first project application that 

needs to be built and of course, we 

shouldn't start with the most complex 

one but start easy. Something that can 

be built and delivered within 30 days. 

The biggest compliment I hear from our 

customers is that they say that ideas 

are flowing amongst the team again 

because if the first application is built in 

30 days people start to think ‘well 

maybe we could do this bigger project 

too.’ We focus on collaboration and 

make sure that the business is able to 

build software that they are proud of.” 

Den Haan believes that low-code 

development isn’t the end of the road 

for Mendix, he believes that the applications 

of the future lies in AI-assisted 

low-code development. “I think the next 

era of applications is the smart app. 

These have three characteristics – it 

understands the context of the app so 

where the user is located and what the 

user is doing, using personal, sensor or 

location data. It’s also intelligent: it uses 

55 



56 

“I think we can use 

AI-assisted low code 

platforms to speed 

application development 

by 10 times 

once again” 

— 




AI, machine learning and predictive 

analytics to look at that context data 

and to make products or recommendations 

for the user. Then thirdly it will be 

proactive. So instead of you, as a user, 

using the application to get information, 

the application will come to you.” The 

software development landscape is 

also leveraging the power of AI too. “I 

don’t think the future of the market lies 

solely in low-code platforms,” notes den 

Haan. “I think it lies in AI-assisted 

development, built on low code.” As a 

result, the firm launched Mendix Assist, 

what it touts as the first AI-assisted 

development that can be built into a low 

code application development platform. 

Analysing anonymised applications that 

have been built using Mendix, this tool 

can proactively offer next-step suggestions 

for developing code. 

“I think we can use AI-assisted low 

code platforms to can speed application 

development by 10 times once 

again,” he adds. 

57 


TOP 10 

58 


Top 10 

highest valued 

tech unicorns 

in the world 

Just like in mythical legends, unicorns in the tech 

business are a rarity. In fact, last year, CB Insight 

calculated that the odds of a company reaching 

that coveted billion-dollar-valuation was less than 

1%. We investigated the most highly valued VCbacked 

tech companies, according to Pitch- 

Book, to see which tech firms have beat the odds 

59 



TOP 10 

60 

10 

Pinterest 

Launched in 2010, Pinterest Inc. has quickly risen to fame, earning 

a valuation of US$12.3bn according to PitchBook. From wedding tips, 

beauty inspiration or new recipes, the web and mobile app allows 

users to save images and stories to virtual pinboards. Pinterest was 

founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp and today, 

it claims to have around 250mn monthly active users. 

www.pinterest.co.uk 


61 

09 

Pinduoduo 

Valued at US$15bn, Pinduoduo is a leading Chinese e-commerce 

platform which allows users to participate in group buying deals, 

primarily through Tencent’s WeChat app. In January, the firm claimed 

to have 114mn active users, according to Forbes. Pinduoduo was 

founded in 2015 by Colin Huan and since then it has gained investments 

from Tencent, Gaochun, Xintianyu respectively. 

www.pinduoduo.com 


TOP 10 

62 

08 

Toutiao 

Valued at around US$20bn, Toutiao (or Jinri Toutiao) is a Beijingbased 

news and information content platform. Data analytics 

firm iResearch claims that Toutiao is installed on over 240mn 

monthly unique devices, makes it a leading news aggregator 

in China. By analysing content as well as users’ interaction with 

content, Toutiao generates a unique feed list of content for each 

user. In November, the six-year-old company appointed Chen 

Lin as the new Chief Executive Officer of the firm. As of September 

2017, Toutiao had 120mn daily active users and Pitchbook 

reports that the firm is valued at US$20bn. 

www.toutiao.com 


63 

07 

Palantir 

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Palantir is a software company 

that specialises in providing big data analytics for government agencies 

and private firms. The company was founded in 2004 by Peter 

Thiel, former co-founder of PayPal, as well as Nathan Gettings, Joe 

Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Alex Kar. In 2016, Palantir announced 

that it had acquired Dutch data visualisation firm Silk. Today, Pitchbook 

reports that Palantir is valued at approximately US$20.5bn. 

www.palantir.com 


TOP 10 

64 

06 

WeWork 

WeWork is a New York-headquartered company that provides collaborative 

shared working spaces. In July, the firm revealed it had 

raised US$500mn from Softbank and Hony Capital to fuel the 

growth of the company’s operations in China. WeWork was founded 

by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in 2010 and figures from 

Pitchbook say the company is now valued at US$21.1bn. 

www.pinterest.co.uk 


65 

05 

SpaceX 

Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, Space Exploration Technologies 

Corp., which does business as SpaceX, is an aerospace company 

which designs, manufactures and launches rockets and spacecrafts. 

SpaceX says it has “the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary.” 

Last year the startup noted that it had achieved 18 successful 

launches —twice as many as in the previous year. SpaceX has a valuation 

of around US$24.7bn according to PitchBook and its investors 

include Fidelity Investments and Google. 

www.spacex.com 


TOP 10 

66 

04 

Meituan-Dianping 

Headquartered in Beijing, China, Meituan-Dianping is not only the 

world’s largest food delivery firm but it also operates in other verticals 

such as hotels, lifestyle, ticketing and bike-sharing via Mobike. 

The company was founded in 2010 by Wang Xing and now it has a 

valuation of around US$30bn, according to Pitchbook. The Financial 

Times reported that Meituan-Dianping had 290mn monthly active 

users as of April 2018. 

www.meituan.com 


03 

Airbnb 

Peer-to-peer home rental firm Airbnb disrupted the hospitality industry 

when it was founded a decade ago and now it is the third highest 

valued VC-backed tech company in the world, with a valuation of 

around US$31bn. Headquartered in San Francisco, Airbnb now has 

satellite offices in Dublin, London, Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, 

Berlin, Moscow, São Paolo, Sydney and Singapore. The 

company’s marketplace provides consumers with access to over 5mn 

places to stay in more than 81,000 cities and 191 countries. Speaking 

at the Skift global travel conference in October, Airbnb’s President of 

Homes, Greg Greeley, revealed that the Californian startup has welcomed 

over 400mn guest arrivals since it was first founded. 

www.airbnb.co.uk 

67 


TOP 10 

68 

02 

Didi Chuxing 

With a valuation of around US$56bn, Didi Chuxing has quickly positioned 

itself as one of the top valued private companies in the world. 

The Chinese firm has made its mark as a mobile transportation platform, 

offering services for taxis, buses, car rental, bike-sharing and 

more. Didi Chuxing claims to have 450mn registered users — over 

half of the country’s mobile-internet users — and 21mn drivers who 

provide 25mn rides per day. Two years ago, Didi Chuxing made 

headlines when it acquired Uber China for an undisclosed amount. 

www.didiglobal.com 



69

TOP 10 

70 


71 

01 

Uber 

Topping the leaderboard is ride-hailing company Uber which raised 

US$1.3bn in a fundraising round led by Softbank in January 2019. The 

10-year-old company has grown to become the highest valued private 

startup company in the world, with a valuation of around 

US$69.9bn. Uber was founded by friends Travis Kalanick and Garrett 

Camp almost a decade ago and now, the firm completes around 

15mn trips every day. Last year, Uber calculated that it had around 

16,000 employees and the San Francisco-headquartered firm is now 

present in 65 countries worldwide. 

www.uber.com 


EVENTS & 

ASSOCIATIONS 

The biggest industry events and conferences 

from around the world 

EDITED BY LAURA MULLAN 

08–12 JANUARY 2019 

Consumer Electronics 

Show (CES) 

[ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES ] 

72 

The Consumer Electronics Show 

(CES) is the world’s gathering place 

for all those who thrive on the business 

of consumer technologies. It has 

served as the proving ground for innovators 

and breakthrough technologies 

for 50 years — the global 

stage where next-generation innovations 

are introduced to the marketplace. 

Owned and produced by the Consumer 

Technology Association (CTA), it attracts 

the world’s business leaders and pioneering 

thinkers. 

January’s conference will open with IBM 

Chairman, President and CEO Ginni 

Rometty delivering an address to discuss 

how technologies such as AI and quantum, 

when built on a foundation of trust 

and transparency, will drastically change 

business and society for the better. 

Click to visit website 

12–15 FEBRUARY 2019 

Think 2019 

[ SAN FRANCISCO ] 

Giving unbridled access to experts, 

customer, partners and IBM executives 

from around the globe, Think 

2019 is a key event for any technology 

professional’s calendar. The event will 

be the second-annual Think conference 

and it aims to cover the breadth 

and depth of technology and business 

topics including cloud, artificial intelligence, 

data analytics, infrastructure 

and much more. 



25–28 FEBRUARY 2019 

MWC Barcelona 

[ BARCELONA, SPAIN ] 

MWC Barcelona is the world’s largest 

exhibition for the mobile industry, incorporating 

a thought-leadership 

conference that features prominent 

executives representing mobile operators, 

device manufacturers, technology 

providers, vendors and content owners 

from across the world. 

Mobile World Congress 2019 will once 

again take place at its traditional Fira 

Gran Via venue in Barcelona and next 

year will be built around eight core topics: 

Connectivity, AI, Industry 4.0, Immersive 

Content, Disruptive Innovation, Digital 

Wellness, Digital Trust and The Future. 


04–08 MARCH 2019 

RSA Conference 2019 

[ SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES ] 

RSA Conference is one of the biggest 

IT security conferences in the world, 

with 2019’s main event taking place in 

San Francisco. 

Attendees can expect to learn about the 

latest cybersecurity developments in 

expert-led sessions, inspiring keynotes 

and in-depth seminars. They can also 

demo innovative products and solutions, 

network with infosec insiders and peers, 

and help move the industry forward as 

part of an engaged and empowered 

global community. 

This year’s theme is ‘Better’. According to 

the RSA Conference, this means ‘working 

hard to find better solutions. Making 

better connections with peers from 

around the world. And keeping the digital 

world safe so everyone can get on with 

making the real world a better place’. 


73 


EVENTS & 

ASSOCIATIONS 

74 

04–06 MARCH 2019 

Gartner Data & Analytics 

Summit 2019 

[ LONDON, UK ] 

In this world of ambiguity characterized 

by uncertainty, risk, doubt and 

fake news, now is the time to lead with 

purpose and bring clarity through data 

and analytics you can rely on and, most 

importantly, trust. Data and analytics 

leaders are driving digital transformation, 

creating monetization opportunities, 

improving the customer experience 

and reshaping industries. We’ll share 

new strategies, guidance and best 

practices to help you realize your 

future - a future based on data you can 

trust, agile analytics you can rely on, 

and the clarity needed to empower you 

with the continuous intelligence and 

pervasive insights necessary to excel 

in the digital economy. 


25 APRIL 2019 

AI and Big Data 

Conference 2019 

[ OLYMPIA, LONDON ] 

The AI & Big Data Conference & Exhibition 

taking place 25-26th April 2019 at 

the Olympia Grand, London and is a 

showcase of next-generation technologies 

and strategies from the world of 

Artificial Intelligence & Big Data, an 

opportunity to explore and discover the 

practical and successful implementation 

of AI & Big Data in driving forward 

your business in 2019 and beyond. 

4 co-located events. 21 conference 

tracks. 12,000 attendees. 500+ speakers. 

350+ exhibitors. 



09–10 MAY 2019 

TECHSPO Technology 

Expo 

[ NEW YORK, USA ] 

TECHSPO Technology 

Expo showcases the next 

generation of technology 

& innovation; Contextual 

Tech, AR, VR, IoT, Wearables, 

Mobile, Internet, 3D 

Print & Emerging Technology, 

Exhibitors have the 

JUNE 2019 

MoneyLIVE 

Digital Banking 


MoneyLIVE: Digital 

Banking is the leading 

25–26 JUNE 2019 

Women of Silicon 

Roundabout 


75 

opportunity to show off 

digital banking confer- 

Through inspirational 

their companies to con- 

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keynotes, panel discus- 

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sions, technical classes 

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Silicon Roundabout aims 

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mote gender diversity 

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ebrate emerging venture. 

industry today. 

nology sector. 





76 

Transforming 

procurement the 

Fannie Mae way 

WRIT TEN BY 

ANDREW WOODS 

PRODUCED BY 

DENITRA PRICE 


NORTH AMERICA 

77 


FANNIE MAE 

We speak to Rajeev Karmacharya, 

Managing Director, Strategic Sourcing 

and Category Management at Fannie 

Mae, on how he aligns procurement 

with business at Fannie Mae… 

78 

A 

number of companies struggle to establish the 

bridge between their business aspirations and 

priorities and the procurement space. However, 

procurement is undergoing a sea of change at the 

moment with many businesses no longer viewing this 

service as merely a back-end function. Rajeev 

Karmacharya, Managing Director, Strategic Sourcing 

and Category Management at Fannie Mae, sees his role 

in procurement as much more business facing. 

“A lot of times procurement organizations tend to be 

too focused on the cost,” he explains. “However, that’s 

often not what the businesses are really looking for. 

Obviously everyone wants to be competitive with price, 

but there’s more to be had from procurement.” 

Karmacharya has over two decades of experience in 

procurement, supply chain and technology roles and has 

seen the procurement function evolve over time. He 

worked as a management consultant for over 12 years, 

including as a Principal for AT Kearney, a global management 

consulting firm. He consulted for a number of 

leading Fortune 500 firms where he often worked just as 

closely with the CIO as the CFO. “I really got to see how 


NORTH AMERICA 

79 


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FANNIE MAE 

82 

the priorities and perspectives could 

sometimes be different between the 

two groups,” he explains. 

Fannie Mae is a U.S. governmentsponsored 

enterprise (GSE) that 

supplies financing to mortgage 

lenders. Fannie Mae celebrated its 

80th birthday in 2018. Karmacharya 

joined the company in 2013 and has 

been working on transforming the 

procurement space through a more 

business-facing function rather than a 

traditionally administrative process. 

“When I joined Fannie Mae, we didn’t 

have a category management type of 

function here and what I found talking 

to senior executives across the 

company was that they didn’t see 

value in procurement that does just 

transactional work. Obviously, there 

are trade-offs with minimizing cost, 

minimizing risk and speed of delivery. 

This interesting dynamic gave me a 

perspective on how you should really 

design a procurement organization. 

How can a group be really effective?” 

FUTURE PROCUREMENT 

Fannie Mae was keen to recruit 

procurement experts that could supply 

$109.9bn 

Approximate 

revenue 

1938 

Year founded 

7,200 

Approximate number 

of employees 


SUPPLY CHAIN 

market insights and industry knowledge 

to the organization. “Our business 

stakeholders are not expecting 

procurement to tell them whether they 

should buy this product or that product, 

but they certainly wanted us to bring in 

insights as to what was happening in 

the marketplace. What are the trends? 

Who are the key and emerging players? 

What types of innovation are happening 

in the industry? 

“Obviously, the transactional part is 

important, as is the supplier management 

and all the traditional procurement 

functions, but we have moved 

to a model where we are the category 

experts. Our category managers 

have a full understanding of their 

categories, including historical spend, 

contractual terms, key sourcing levers 

as well as industry knowledge – more 

than anyone else in the company. This 

creates a partnership, and even though 

the organization may change on the 

business side, it enables us to provide 

continuity as well as an enterprise 

perspective.” 

Fannie Mae’s sourcing and procurement 

transformation journey is about 

customer service. “For us, our internal 83 


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Planning a Successful 

Procurement Transformation Journey 

Wayne Gretzky once said that “a good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where 

the puck is going to be.” The same can be said for procurement leaders planning their organizations’ digital 

transformation. 

At Ivalua, we’ve had the opportunity to work with hundreds of the world’s leading companies on their journeys. 

The most successful have consistently been those that keep their eye on where they want their organizations to 

be many years down the road and plot their course accordingly. 

While people ultimately are the ones that deliver value and bring successful transformations to fruition, technology 

is a critical enabler. It frees capacity, provides necessary insights, enables collaboration at scale and much more. 

Successful procurement transformation journeys involve several core phases, and technology must be able to 

support each one when you are ready to progress. 

Typical 

Objectives 

Get up and running quickly 

Generate ROI 

Adopt industry best 

practices 

Digitize the full Source-to- 

Pay process 

Manage 100% of spend 

Improve data / strategic 

insights 

Bing your best ideas to life 

Establish agility for evolving 

requirements 

Technology 

Requirements 

Rapid deployment, adoption 

& onboarding 

Industry configurations 

Complete suite 

Unified data model 

Powerful configurability 

Industry-leading capabilities 

Getting Started Best-in-Class Competitive Advantage 

Procurement Digital Transformation Journey 

If getting started, ensure technology can deliver rapid ROI and deliver best practices. But remember that even if 

you are only digitizing part of your process now, when you are ready to build a truly best-in-class procurement 

organization you’ll want to digitize the full Source-to-Pay process, in which case an integrated suite to automate 

all activity will be needed, and a unified data model will be critical to ensuring 360 degree supplier visibility 

or generating process-wide insights from the latest artificial intelligence applications. Fannie Mae was able to 

onboard nearly 100% of their suppliers and achieved visibility into 100% of spend. Their team made it happen, 

empowered by technology. 

You should insist on best practice capabilities and configurations, but realize that as you mature you will inevitably 

find that some requirements are truly unique or have evolved. Be sure your technology has the flexibility to 

accommodate them through configuration. And remember that best-in-class does not create a competitive 

advantage. Top talent will want to innovate and do a few strategic activities differently, better than the competition. 

Technology should empower them to do so and bring their best ideas to life. Fannie Mae maintains better insight 

into cyber security threats than its suppliers, so implemented a unique process to automatically notify at-risk 

suppliers of threats, thereby reducing risk better than others. 

Every company’s journey is unique, but 

by keeping their eye on where they are 

headed, procurement leaders can achieve 

their goals. 

To learn how Ivalua can accelerate your procurement 

digital transformation, visit ivalua.com

FANNIE MAE 

86 

“Like many internal operations, procurement 

has undergone a digital recalibration of both 

its architecture, functionality and efficiency 

as Big Data, machine learning and AI start 

to filter into the procurement space” 

— 

Rajeev Karmacharya, 

Managing Director, Strategic Sourcing and Category Management 


NORTH AMERICA 

87 


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NORTH AMERICA 

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89 

business unit stakeholders are our 

customers. Some procurement 

organizations don’t like to call their 

internal stakeholders ‘customers’. I 

think we’ve been very deliberate about 

viewing our business stakeholders as 

customers and really putting them at 

the center of everything we do. We 

seek to understand their business so 

we can see it from their perspective. 

We help our customers achieve market 

competitive costs and help identify 

and mitigate supplier risks, but our 

customers’ business objectives and 

priorities are at the core of what we 

focus on. Sometimes, that may mean 

higher cost for faster speed-to-market, 

or taking on a slightly higher level of 

risk. We may challenge them from time 

to time if we believe that’s in their best 

interest, or the company’s. Ultimately, 

we want our customers to have a 

positive experience in their interactions 

with procurement while knowing 

that we have their back. That’s the kind 

of model we’re building.” 

Like many internal operations, 

procurement has undergone a digital 

recalibration of its architecture, 

functionality and efficiency as Big 


FANNIE MAE 

90 

“I think the 

key for me is 

understanding 

business needs 

and viewing 

things from 

the customer’s 

perspective” 

— 



and Category Management 

Data, machine learning and AI technologies 

start to filter into the procurement space. 

“We have totally digitized contracts and can 

do a lot more with contract authoring and 

contract analytics, among others. We have 

started to test RPA (robotic process 

automation) where it makes sense – and I’ll 

be honest: RPA doesn’t always make sense 

for smaller scale operations, where there is a 

lot more thinking versus doing. From a 

business case perspective, the promised 

land of true digitization is full collaboration 

and transparency that enables harnessing 

the full potential of technologies, such as 


NORTH AMERICA 

machine learning and artificial intelligence. 

For our customers, that means greater 

efficiency and better analytics and insights.” 

A PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION 

With any digital transformation, robust 

technology solutions are key to continued 

success. “If you looked at the technology 

solution we had a few years ago, the context 

diagram of our procurement system and 

integrations was outdated. This complexity 

meant higher opportunity for errors and 

impacted our cycle times. We also didn’t 

have a good way to tackle approvals outside 

of Procurement – much of this was done via 

emails and lacked consistency. We had 

multiple sources of records for supplier data, 

but no direct integration between contracts 

and purchase as they were on different 

systems. So, we needed an end-to-end 

solution that was flexible to meet our unique 

needs, yet scalable to handle our volume. 

After assessing a number of established 

players, Fannie Mae chose an innovative, 

emerging supplier in source-to-pay space. 

We now have a more user-friendly procurement 

system that allows for integrated 

requisition and contract approval workflow 

and now, along with the adoption of e-signatures 

and mobile approval capability, we 

91 


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NORTH AMERICA 

have cut down cycle-time for standard 

purchases by 50%.” 

Karmacharya’s team utilizes an 

end-to-end procurement solution 

where all of the contracts are in one 

contract management system. The 

key metadata is captured and stored. 

Contract authoring has been piloted 

and the company is looking to expand 

its contract authoring and contract 

analytics capabilities. “Much of our 

contracting work happens electronically,” 

he explains. “Key contract 

meta-data is captured and we utilize 

e-signature for execution. We continue 

to be focused on ensuring data quality, 

capturing additional metadata, and 

some of the innovative things you can 

do with digitalization to drive efficiency. 

We have full spend visibility that really 

enables us to do all the associated 

analytics. Catalog management and 

automatic deal approval with the full 

workflow is also built into the tool, 

which makes the process very efficient. 

Moreover, with the workflow built into 

the tool, it is easier for customers to 

see where things are – with increased 

transparency, procurement is becoming 

less of a black box.” 

Karmacharya believes trusted 

relationships with suppliers are equally 

important to bring value to internal 

customers. The team has worked 

hard to build strategic partnerships 

with key suppliers. “We believe 

suppliers can help bring innovation 

and best practices with the right 

93 


Rajeev Karmacharya 

Rajeev a is Managing Director of the Strategic Sourcing 

and Category Management group in Fannie Mae. Rajeev 

leads a team of category management, strategic sourcing, 

contracting, and supplier operations professionals. In 

addition, Karmacharya currently serves in the Advisory 

Board of the Sourcing Interest Group, a global industry 

forum for Sourcing professionals. 


FANNIE MAE 

“From a business 

case perspective, 

the promised land of 

true digitization is full 

collaboration and 

transparency that 

enables harnessing 

the full potential of 

technologies, such 

as machine learning 

and artificial 

intelligence” 

94 

— 



and Category Management 

partnership and accountability. For 

example, we work collaboratively 

with them to drive efficiency and cost 

competitiveness. Annually, we work 

with them to plan out future demand 

so they can plan their resources 

accordingly and we get the benefit 

of readily available, qualified resources 

in areas of our greatest need. We 

also work with a company that helps 

us with benchmarks, and on key 

hardware and software deals, which 

helps bring a unique perspective into 

supplier pricing models we might not 

normally have.” 

Besides unit cost optimization, 

Karmacharya’s team is also focused 

on managing demand and seeking 

out substitution opportunities. For 

example, the procurement team 

worked collaboratively with the 

enterprise data team to manage 

data purchases and allocation. Prior 

to establishing an asset management 

program, budget planning, forecasting 

and cost allocation was challenging 


NORTH AMERICA 

due to the fragmented nature of the 

purchase across multiple business 

units. A new data management solution 

enabled the company to effectively 

manage its data purchases and reduce 

duplicative purchases. 

It’s Karmacharya’s customer service 

mindset that is driving tangible value. “I 

tell my team every day to think about 

the value we are bringing. You can 

always take the easy path, or you can 

take the path that drives the most 

value even though it may be a little 

more difficult. Sometimes you have to 

challenge your customer and say, ‘Are 

you sure you want to do this? Because 

here’s what the data is telling me.” 

“There are valuable insights you can 

draw from analysis of not just spend 

and buying patterns, but also from 

trends in the marketplace. What 

resonates with the customers might 

not be cost savings. It might be other 

things you, and the customer, might 

not be thinking about.” 

“I think the key is understanding 

business needs and viewing things 

from customer’s perspective,” he adds. 

“On the flip side, by having this analytical 

insight you really understand what 

the opportunities are and, in turn, are 

better able to challenge the customer. 

Do you take the easy path, the path of 

least resistance, with minimal value or 

would you rather be someone who is 

really helping drive the business? I 

choose the latter every time.” 

95 


96 

How BlackBerry 

is undergoing 

a legendary digital 

transformation and 

creating an inclusive 

platform for women 

in technology 

WRIT TEN BY 

LAURA MULLAN 

PRODUCED BY 

CRAIG DANIELS 


NORTH AMERICA 

97 


BLACKBERRY 

Following BlackBerry’s incredible 

turnaround, we talk to Neelam Sandhu, 

Senior Director of Business Operations 

Office of the CEO, about BlackBerry’s 

reinvented focus, the fast-emerging 

Enterprise of Things, and challenges 

faced by women in tech 

98 

‘Do what you enjoy the most and you’ll 

never work a day in your life’ – this 

may be a well-versed platitude, but 

for Neelam Sandhu it has proven to be 

sound advice when navigating through 

her career. She knew that she reveled 

in fast-paced and dynamic environments, 

that she wanted to utilize her skills in 

business strategy, and most importantly 

that she wanted to work for a company 

for which she could be a genuine 

ambassador. This inevitably led her to 

the world of technology and ultimately 

the doors of BlackBerry. The rest, she 

says, is history. 

Now, Senior Director of Business 

Operations Office of the CEO at 

BlackBerry, Sandhu describes her 

role as one which “touches every 


NORTH AMERICA 

Neelam Sandhu, 

Senior Director of 

Business Operations, 

Office of the CEO, 

BlackBerry 

function of the company in some 

capacity”. One day she may be meeting 

with government officials and customers, 

the next launching a new internal 

expense management system, or 

executing on initiatives like the 

BlackBerry Shield. 

Sandhu has seemingly found her 

calling in the technology sector but 

unfortunately, women in this field are 

increasingly rare. A report by Accenture 

and non-profit Girls Who Code 

noted that women account for 34% of 

computing jobs today, down from 37% 

in 1995. Elsewhere, in the UK, figures 

from the Women’s Engineering Society 

(WES) show that just 15% of people 

working in STEM (Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Mathematics) 

roles are women – and only 5% of 

leadership positions in the technology 

industry are held by women. The 

statistics make for disheartening 

reading, but Sandhu is optimistic that 

we could see change on the horizon. 

“In my career, I’ve certainly 

experienced some bias from men and 

women alike,” she recalls. “However, 

I’ve been very fortunate that, for me, 

BlackBerry has been a great place 

to grow and learn and to advance my 

99 


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NORTH AMERICA 

career, with support from both 

genders. I wouldn’t be where I am 

today without that support. There are 

still a number of challenges that need 

to be worked on in every industry, not 

just in technology, when it comes to 

gender diversity and equality,” she 

adds. “But I think the conversation is 

changing – it’s becoming less taboo 

and men are getting involved in the 

discussion as well, which is critical.” 

One of the biggest hurdles, Sandhu 

believes, lies in the lack of female role 

models in male-dominated fields. 

“Women don’t have those same role 

models or examples as men to look up 

to or emulate,” she observes. “But I do 

think that's changing. For example, we 

can see that two leaders of General 

Motors – the CEO and the CFO – are 

both women. The automotive industry 

is one which is notoriously male-dominated 

so we are seeing change right 

there. Betty Liu is another example. 

She began her career in journalism, 

went on to start her own business and 

now she is the Executive Vice Chairman 

of the New York Stock Exchange.” 

Another hurdle, Sandhu believes, lies 

in education. Surveying over 2,000 

A-Level and university students in the 

UK, PwC found that only 3% of women 

say a career in technology would be 

their first choice. “We need to increase 

the pipeline of women in STEM and 

that starts with education,” notes Sandhu. 

103 


BLACKBERRY 

104 

“At BlackBerry, we’re very focused on making sure that 

whatever we do is positively impacting society – that’s 

something that is not traditionally seen in or associated 

with technology” 

— 

Neelam Sandhu, 

Senior Director of Business Operations, 

Office of the CEO, BlackBerry 

“We need to work on creating an envir– 

onment where women feel comfortable 

learning STEM topics. Not only is 

the professional environment male 

dominated, but the education environment 

is too. So, creating that environment 

or community where women feel 

comfortable in STEM is important.” 

Sandhu also suggests that creating 

the right messaging that appeals to 

women and encourages them to get 

involved in STEM could prove helpful. 

“For example, at BlackBerry, we're very 

focused on making sure that whatever 

we do is positively impacting society 

for the better – that messaging is not 

traditionally seen in, or associated with, 

technology,” says Sandhu. “Technology 

is often seen to be a more rational, 

colder environment. If we can change 

the messaging to highlight the value 

that technology adds to society, it will 

attract more women to the sector.” 

‘Impacting society for the better’: it's 

an admirable statement, and it’s one 

which BlackBerry is putting into practice 


NORTH AMERICA 


Neelam Sandhu 

Neelam Sandhu is responsible for the operations of the CEO office, 

including supporting the CEO in managing key customer and government 

relationships globally, management of and content 

development for internal and external engagements, and driving 

strategic cross-functional projects to deliver operational efficiencies. 

Neelam also manages BlackBerry’s travel strategy and operations. 

Since joining BlackBerry in 2009 Neelam has held various 

positions, based out of the company’s United Kingdom, 

New York and California offices. Her responsibilities 

have included Brand Management, Brand Messaging, 

Marketing Operations, Go-To-Market for the Curve 

and Porsche Design products and Corporate Strategic 

Initiatives. Neelam holds a bachelor’s degree, 

with honors, in Business Management, from the 

University of Leicester and an Executive Certification 

in Financial Analysis from the University of 

California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. 

105 


BLACKBERRY 

106 

“BlackBerry represents 

the ambition in diversity 

and inclusion that RBC 

seeks out in our business 

partners, with its leaders 

fundamentally recognizing 

the power of humanity – 

and human values – in our 

tech-driven age. As a 

thought leader, Neelam is 

showing how this approach 

is esse–ntial to ensuring 

that we create technology 

for good, for all of our 

employees, customers, 

clients and communities ” 

— 

Bruce Ross, 

Group Head of Technology & Operations, 

Royal Bank of Canada 


NORTH AMERICA 

ever since it shifted its roadmap following 

a mammoth transformation. To say 

BlackBerry has reinvented itself in the 

past decade would be an understatement. 

At its peak, its smartphone was 

in the hands of almost every corporate 

and business professional, with sales 

reaching a crescendo between 2009 

and 2011. As the competition heated 

up, BlackBerry’s device sales slumped 

and it decided it needed a new roadmap. 

This is where John Chen, BlackBerry’s 

current Executive Chairman and CEO, 

entered the fray. A well-known turnaround 

expert, Sandhu says that Chen 

helped to herald in a new era for 

BlackBerry. “He stabilized the company 

financially and put us into growth mode. 

To do that, he had to develop a strategy 

which would take us into the future,” 

she says. “He decided to focus on what 

we do best: security and connectivity.” 

Recognizing that the market was 

shifting towards a software model, 

Chen helped to spearhead a new chapter 

in BlackBerry’s history, pivoting it 

from a smartphone hardware firm to 

an enterprise software and services 

company. “He led the company 

through a complete shift culturally, 

operationally and strategically,” notes 

107 


BLACKBERRY 

108 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘BLACKBERRY SPARK ADVERT’ 


NORTH AMERICA 

“At the center of financial 

markets, the NYSE plays 

an important role in helping 

great companies such as 

BlackBerry raise capital 

so that they can innovate, 

create jobs and drive 

purposeful programs 

that advance the global 

workforce and the communities 

around them. 

We commend BlackBerry 

for its work to foster the 

growth of its leaders, 

and we congratulate 

Neelam for being a strong 

role model for women 

in technology” 

— 

Betty Liu, 

Executive Vice Chairman, NYSE 

109 


BLACKBERRY 

110 

“At KPMG, inclusion and diversity 

strengthens our business, enriches our 

culture and enables us to develop 

relationships with our communities. 

We accelerate productivity by tapping 

into diverse talent and new markets. 

We are proud to team with BlackBerry 

in their commitment to unlocking the 

power of diversity and driving innovation. 

I am thrilled to recognize Neelam for 

representing BlackBerry, a company 

committed to supporting women in 

leadership and for being recognized as 

a powerful example of female empowerment 

in business and technology” 

— 

Tony Malfara, 

Partner, Risk Consulting Services, KPMG in Canada 


NORTH AMERICA 

Sandhu. “The future of the tech industry 

and the connected world lies in software, 

not in hardware, so we’ve evolved to 

become a software company, focused 

on connectivity and security. Chen also 

identified a new market called the Enterprise 

of Things (EoT) which we have 

positioned ourselves to lead.” 

Just as BlackBerry mobilized the 

workforce with smartphones – allowing 

employees to send emails on the go, 

for example – so too have other 

technologies and tools transformed 

the way we work. As more and more 

devices and tools enter the enterprise 

workflow, there is a greater need to 

make this workflow secure and this is 

where BlackBerry is making its mark. 

“The Enterprise of Things isn’t just 

about the assets that your employer 

provides you; the enterprise workflow 

is expanding to include other Things 

that aren’t provided by the enterprise. 

For instance, an employee might use 

a file sharing solution that isn’t provided 

by their employer or a device like 

an Amazon Alexa speaker. There are 

more Things being connected into 

daily work processes that aren’t under 

the enterprise’s control. This means 

that enterprises will demand BlackBer- 

111 


BLACKBERRY 

“BlackBerry is a company driven by strong 

corporate ethics. I believe there is strength 

in diversity and am committed to leading an 

inclusive organization. In an increasingly 

integrated world it is unification that unlocks 

the power of our platform and I am proud to 

be a champion for women and minorities in 

technology leadership positions” 

— 

John Chen, 

Executive Chairman & CEO, BlackBerry 

112 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘BLACKBERRY WATERLOO CAMPUS’ 


NORTH AMERICA 

113 

ry-grade security for more and more 

connected Things. We also expect to 

see the same request from consumers, 

as they become increasingly aware 

of their privacy landscape and demand 

greater transparency from technology 

companies.” 

With more endpoints comes greater 

risk and this is where BlackBerry’s 

expertise in security and connectivity 

come into play. “Today we’re very 

focused on securing all EoT endpoints 

and ‘all’ is the keyword here because 

we are platform agnostic in what we 

do,” Sandhu explains. “We are keen 

to make sure that everybody who is 

connected to a ‘Thing’ is benefiting 

from BlackBerry's best-in-class 

security, BlackBerry's data privacy 

promise, and our legacy and reliability 

when it comes to connectivity too.” 

The BlackBerry Spark platform is 

designed to tackle the growing EoT 

market. It delivers ultra-secure hyperconnectivity 

from the inside out. 

“There’s a scientific theory called the 

‘grand unification theory’ and it states 

that everything in the universe can be 


BLACKBERRY 

114 

brought together by a single unifying 

force, and that's how we describe 

BlackBerry Spark – it’s a single platform 

that unifies every connected ‘Thing’ 

securely, reliably, with user privacy at 

the forefront.” 

As more hacks and cybersecurity 

threats make the headlines, security 

has become a pressing concern for 

any firm. It’s a top priority for BlackBerry 

too. Sandhu describes the firm as 

one which “lives and breathes security”, 

proven by the fact it works closely 

with famously secure organizations like 

the G7 governments, NATO, and some 

of the world’s largest banks and medical 

institutions. On top of this, BlackBerry 

also uses its own technologies and 

products, ensuring its internal security 

is of the highest caliber. “We can't have 

a single conversation at BlackBerry 

without the word ‘security’ coming up,” 

she observes. “We live and breathe 

security so that the end user and the 

enterprise doesn't have to worry about 

it. Our security expertise has been built 

into our platform since day one. It’s been 

built into every layer of our solutions, from 

the kernel to the edge, and so I’d say 

security is definitely one of our key 

competitive tenets.” 


NORTH AMERICA 

“As Canada’s flag carrier, 

Air Canada takes pride in 

projecting Canadian values 

such as equality and inclusiveness 

around the world 

and we celebrate these 

qualities every day at our 

airline, as shown by the 

prominent role women play 

in all parts of our company. 

We are always pleased when 

we see other major Canadian 

companies, like Black- 

Berry, also promote these 

values and we congratulate 

Neelam on her remarkable 

accomplishments” 

— 

Catherine Dyer, 

Senior Vice-President and Chief 

Information Officer, Air Canada 

115 


BLACKBERRY 

116 

“Bell is committed to fostering 

an inclusive, equitable, 

and accessible workplace 

that provides all team 

members with the opportunity 

to reach their full 

potential. We are proud to 

partner with BlackBerry, a 

fellow Canadian company 

that proudly promotes 

women to key technology 

leadership positions, and 

congratulate Neelam on 

being recognized by 

Business Chief” 

— 

Devorah Lithwick, 

Senior Vice President, Brand, Bell 


NORTH AMERICA 

BlackBerry’s customers seem to agree 

with this sentiment. Today, BlackBerry’s 

software is embedded into more 

‘Things’ than it was when it had its peak 

of smartphones in the market – and at 

that point of time, it had the largest 

smartphone share in the global market. 

One of the most notable examples of 

its widespread use, Sandhu points out, 

is its mass notification solution called 

BlackBerry AtHoc which is used by 

organizations like the G7 governments 

and the Red Cross, in emergency situations 

like natural disasters or manmade 

threat situations. “They use BlackBerry 

AtHoc to collaborate and send mass 

notifications or alerts to other users. 

In the last year, the solution has been 

used to send around half a billion 

messages around the world. It enables 

users to be safe in their environment 

and to be warned of potentially unsafe 

situations.” This clearly harks back to 

the company’s core ethos of wanting 

to make a positive impact on society. 

BlackBerry’s turnaround is well 

evidenced and, for Sandhu, it has been 

thanks in part to the company’s security, 

its interoperability and, most importantly, 

its stance on privacy. “From the 

offset, we've promised data privacy,” 

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BLACKBERRY 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘BLACKBERRY CO–OP TESTIMONIAL’ 

118 

she says. “We don't monetize people's 

data. We believe that the data belongs 

to the person that's generating it, 

meaning the end user. We've had that 

promise since day one and we continue 

to commit to it.” This has allowed 

BlackBerry to foster sincere relationships 

with its users built on trust which 

may have given the firm a leg up in 

the sector. “People have to trust the 

solutions that they're using and that's 

one of the key reasons why BlackBerry 

is still successful and still a key brand 

name. People trust us,” she adds. 

On the road ahead, BlackBerry is 

keen to keep its finger on the pulse of 


NORTH AMERICA 

“At Sullivan and Cromwell, 

we believe fostering 

a diverse and inclusive work 

environment is vital. I am 

delighted that Neelam has 

been recognized by Business 

Chief as a woman 

in tech leadership and we 

are proud to partner with 

BlackBerry, a company that 

supports women in key 

leadership positions” 

— 

Alison Ressler, 

Partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and a 

member of the firm’s management 

committee. 

119 


BLACKBERRY 

120 


NORTH AMERICA 

“At Torys, we strive to 

uphold an inclusive and 

diverse workplace. The 

work we do for clients is 

fueled by individuals who 

are empowered to bring 

their best selves to work 

each day. It’s great to be 

able to work alongside 

like-minded companies 

such as BlackBerry who 

share the same ethos” 

— 

David Chaikof, 

Partner at Torys 

the latest innovations in the sector – 

for instance, as quantum computing 

comes more commonplace, security 

will have to get smarter too and so 

BlackBerry has launched a new quantum 

security solution to get ahead of 

the curve. Most importantly though, 

Sandhu points out that as the landscape 

changes the firm will continue 

to remain focused on the three-word 

mantra which got it where it is today: 

security, privacy and connectivity. “In 

the future, we'll maintain our data 

privacy promise and we'll continue 

to come up with solutions like 

BlackBerry Shield that help keep 

people safe,” she says. “We'll do 

whatever we can to make these 

solutions available to the whole 

market by remaining platform 

agnostic, and we’ll try to integrate all 

connected ‘Things’ into our platform. 

We will continue to stay true to our 

core tenets.” 

121 


122 


NORTH AMERICA 

123 

DIGITAL 

DISRUPTION 

IN A DATA 

DRIVEN 

WORLD 

WRIT TEN BY 

DALE BENTON 

PRODUCED BY 

CRAIG DANIELS 


RADIUS NETWORKS 

Marc Wallace, CEO 

and Co-founder of 

Radius Networks, talks 

digital disruption in 

a data driven world 

124 

I 

n an increasingly data driven 

world, businesses are 

identifying ways to unlock 

new opportunities and markets as they 

turn to data to reach their digitally 

enabled customer bases. US-based 

Radius Networks works with major 

brands to capture and utilize proximitybased 

data in order to reach the right 

people at the right time. 

As businesses continue to seek new 

and more innovative ways to use data, 

Radius Networks Customer Location 

Platform, which includes tableside and 

curbside service, asset tracking, and 

proximity cloud analytics, fits right at 

home in the current business landscape. 

However, as co-founder and 

CEO Marc Wallace explains, bringing 

disruptive technologies to market is no 

small feat. “The real challenge that we 

faced was from an R&D perspective. 

We were building a very new technol- 


NORTH AMERICA 

Engineer and Support meeting (left to right: Jason Wieringa, Brian Cabrera, 

Bhavin Vyas, Ami Desai, Alex Stone, Sam Kim, James Nebeker) 

125 

Chief Technology Officer, 

David Helms 

ogy concept, leveraging Bluetooth or 

wireless on mobile devices and this 

was a very novel thing,” he explains. 

“Nobody really knows how to use it or 

how to implement it and that caused 

teething problems.” 

Having co-founded the business 

with partners from previous, successful 

ventures in 2011, Wallace has spent 

the best part of his career in the technology 

and internet space. It was through 

this experience that the team saw an 

opportunity in using wireless signals as 

a means of engaging people on their 


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smartphones. “You would walk into a 

venue and your phone picks up a Wi-Fi 

signal and we saw that you could use 

that as an opportunity to engage and 

say ‘welcome’ or ‘go here’,” he explains. 

“That’s why we built Radius Networks. 

It was all formed around that initial 

concept of engaging with people based 

on their location and proximity to certain 

points of interest. That was the beginning 

of Radius Networks.” 

Over the last seven years, Radius 

Networks has worked with major 

brands across the US and is active 

in more than 60 countries worldwide, 

with more than 27 patented technology 

solutions within its portfolio. The 

company’s success is clear to see, 

but Wallace notes that the key to that 

success lies in the people involved, 

as well as a smart approach to capital 

investment. “Once we knew what we 


Marc Wallace 

Marc is a serial entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO 

of Radius Networks, Inc., located in Washington, DC. Radius 

Networks is a location technology company focused on helping 

businesses locate, engage and transact with their customers. 

Prior to Radius Networks, Marc co-founded several other successful 

startups, such as District Taco, a Mexican-food fast 

casual chain in DC, where he serves as Chairman, and Swap- 

Drive (backup.com), an online backup company acquired by 

the Norton division of Symantec in 2008. Before creating 

SwapDrive, he served at Orbital Sciences Corporation as an 

aerospace engineer and engineering manager across multiple 

successful rocket and spacecraft launch campaigns. Marc 

holds a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. 

in Information Systems from George Washington University. 

127 



128 

were doing we developed strong expertise in 

the area,” he says, “but it took a number of 

years to really get to a productization that our 

customers, huge brands, could see true 

value in and a return of investment (ROI).” 

“The first four years of the company were 

really defined by R&D, but over the last few 

years we’ve moved into the operationalization 

phase. We are taking a product that is 

maturing and pushing it worldwide, so we 

have to be able to scale it and have third 

parties and partners that can sell and install 

the product.” 

With a career defined by technology it 

would be easy for Wallace and his team to 

assume that partners, suppliers and potential 

customers will have the same understanding 

and knowledge of innovative technologies, 

but as Wallace noted previously, proximity 

solutions are a very novel concept. The key 

to working with stakeholders and obtaining 

their ‘buy-in’ is communication and Wallace 

recognises this. Radius Networks has cemented 

itself within the market for a number of 

years and can begin to point to successes 

and tangible value that its solutions have 

brought for customers. “Real dollars,” says 

Wallace. “We have real dollars that our 

technology can enable through efficiencies, 

savings and of course drawing customers to 

“We install thousands, 

almost tens of thousands 

of locations a year, so in 

order to do that across 

the world, we need 

strong partnerships” 

— 

Marc Wallace, 

CEO and Co-Founder. 



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CLICK TO WATCH: ‘RADIUS NETWORKS — 

MCDONALDS TABLE SERVICE SOLUTION’ 

129 

Craig Brooks and Maie Lee 

their stores. We also have very solid data 

that can back up and highlight the ROI that 

we can bring.” 

Sales figures, through Quick Service 

Restaurants (QSRs) or instore delivery, are 

the key metrics that can speak to the impact 

of Radius Networks but there are also the 

less tangible metrics such as customer 

satisfaction that can really be the difference. 

Wallace can point to customer satisfaction 

increases of close to 25% over stores that 

do not use Radius Networks’ solutions from 

convenience alone and that he feels is in 

itself “real ROI”. 

Another key metric that Radius Networks 



has been able to store is wastage. 

Through its ability to pinpoint customers 

and drive them through a sales 

process, the company is able to help 

businesses manage the process 

entirely. “Let’s look at food ordering, 

whether its instore or delivery,” says 

Wallace. “We’re able to help a business 

manage the process, drastically 

cutting waste and wrong orders in half. 

People are getting the right order. 

They’re getting their food, not somebody 

else’s food, and they’re getting it 

After the customer places an order from 

kiosk, mobile, or counter, the staff can view 

their exact location for order delivery 

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in a timely fashion so that their food 

doesn’t need to be thrown away. It’s 

very important, and a big ROI factor for 

a lot of those businesses.” 

Radius Networks is defined by data 

as much as it is defined by technology, 

and so the company collates and stores 

mountains of data. This inevitably raises 

the question of what Radius Networks 

is doing with sensitive data. Wallace 

says that the company saw a fork in the 

road a number of years ago in the 

collection of location specific data. 

131 


Dan Estrada has 20 years of start-up, technology business 

development experience. He is the Chief Strategy 

Officer of Radius Networks, Inc. leading the global business 

strategy and expansion initiative. Prior to joining Radius 

Networks, Dan successfully executed the worldwide channel 

distribution strategy for cloud service start-up, SwapDrive, 

from the company’s inception through its acquisition by 

Symantec for $123 million. Post SwapDrive acquisition, 

Dan successfully led the worldwide business development 

efforts for Symantec for the launch of Norton Online 

Backup, and served as VP, Business Development for 

SnappCloud, a leading White Label App & Content Delivery 

Platform for PC & Tablet OEMs. Dan is currently an advisor 

to several early stage companies. 



132 

“It can be very personalized and so we decided 

very early on not to aggregate personal data 

and sell it to third parties that were not related 

to our clients,” he says. “We work directly with 

the brands, and we will provide data back to 

those brands almost on a pass-through basis 

– rather than storing data long term on our 

systems that are related to their customers. 

“We will honor their relationship directly 

with their customers. When end customers 

are using our solution through one of our 

clients, they can be assured that whatever 

agreement they have in place from a privacy 

standpoint – we honor that. That is all part of 

the GDPR system, so we follow that standard. 

“We like being the center 

of expertise that our customers 

can turn to in order to give 

them an idea as to where the 

wind's blowing with regards 

to technology” 

— 

Marc Wallace, 

CEO and Co-Founder. 


Customers can place an order while 

on-the-go and opt to dine-in, pickup 

in-store, or pickup curbside. 


NORTH AMERICA 

That’s how we operate and we don’t plan 

on changing that.” 

Working with clients in more than 60 

countries, Wallace recognizes the importance 

of a trusting client relationship and 

being able to provide tailored solutions that 

fit different countries and different market 

dynamics and demands. To this end, Radius 

Networks has dedicated teams assigned 

to its biggest brand partners that work 

directly with them and are “embedded on 

site”. “It’s all about dedicating resources to 

that client and allowing them to focus directly 

on what their customer needs,” he explains. 

In this regard, the way in which Radius 

Networks goes above and beyond to provide 

additional services and give value to the 

client proves crucial. Despite its product 

offering, Radius Networks is not a ‘call us if 

you need us’ hardware company; it differentiates 

itself in the way it provides its solutions 

as a service. The company will install a 

solution, provide further solutions and then 

provide a service of services on that solution 

ranging from maintenance, monitoring 

analytics and feedback. “It’s similar to if you’re 

getting cable at your house,” says Wallace. 

“You get a set-top box. It’s hardware, but you’re 

paying a monthly subscription for the service 

that will be maintained and updated. That 

133 



134 

translates to real-time data that we 

obtain from the field that allows us to 

understand how the system is being 

used and then be able to optimize other 

processes around that.” 

As the market leader in an everevolving 

technology landscape, Radius 

Networks must ensure that its offering 

continues to be at the very forefront of 

the latest technology trends. Wallace 

says that the company’s technology 

and ability to implement solutions must 

always be years ahead of its customers. 

When working with some of the bigger 

clients in the market, whose ability to 

take solutions to market is measured in 

years, Radius Networks has to continuously 

bring innovation to the table in 

order to succeed. “We’ll work with them 

and say, ‘Okay, here’s what’s next, here’s 

what’s three years down the road or 

five years down the road’, and bringing 

it to them so that they can get it into the 

pipeline early and start to mature the 

product, because it will take years to 

get that out,” he says. 


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With Radius Networks location 

technology, the customer can simply 

drive to the store and have their 

groceries delivered directly to them, 

no action required. 

135 


Rebecca McFarland a creative and experienced 

marketing and event specialist with a honed expertise 

in branding and design. She is currently the Vice President 

of Marketing at Radius Networks, located in Washington, 

DC. She leads all marketing initiatives, including branding, 

design, product promotion, strategy, and advertising. 

Prior to joining Radius Networks, Rebecca was the Head 

of Marketing and Associate Publisher at Washingtonian 

Magazine, where she drove profitability through new 

business initiatives, multi-platform campaigns, events, 

and community partnerships. 



136 

“We like being the center of expertise 

that our customers can turn to in order 

to give them an idea where the wind’s 

blowing on the technology.” 

Despite considerable success over 

the last seven years, Radius Networks 

hasn’t been able to achieve this growth 

alone and Wallace can point to key 

strategic partners that the company 

has worked with that have been fundamental 

in allowing the company to 

achieve. Radius Networks has called 

upon the support of NCR, Diebold 

Nixdorf, Coates Group and Fujitsu to 

assist with service support and delivery. 

“We install thousands, almost tens of 

thousands of locations a year, so in order 

to do that across the world, we need 

partnerships to do that,” says Wallace. 

Technology partners have also been 

instrumental in enabling the rapid 

development and deployment of the 

products, such as AOPEN and EM 

Micro. “They have been key, not only to 

provide the right solution but helping 

us to evolve the solution.” 

Left to right: Craig Brooks, Maie Lee, Joe Grajewski, 

Ken McInerney, Amanda Wilson. 


NORTH AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘RADIUS NETWORKS — 

CUSTOMER LOCATION SOLUTION’ 

137 

The industries of today will not be the 

same as the industries of tomorrow 

and technology will continue to steer 

that evolution. Radius Networks must 

be ready for whatever tomorrow will 

bring for its clients. Wallace believes 

that the hospitality market will become 

key in the near future for the company 

and that Radius Network’s approach 

to service, as well as its experienced 

team, is what will be fundamental in 

order to remain as the market leader. 

“If we need to react to the increasingly 

varying customer demands or 

requirements, we have the ability to 

quickly and nimbly do that,” he says. 

“We control the entire stack of our 

solution and we have incredible experience 

in this space. That’s a huge 

advantage that we have over anybody 

else that is either in the market or 

trying to get into the market.” 


138 


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Truliant Federal 

Credit Union 

A MEMBER-CENTRIC 

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 

WRIT TEN BY 

ANDREW WOODS 

PRODUCED BY 

ANDY TURNER 

139 


TRULIANT FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 

WE SPEAK TO CIO SANDEEP 

UTHRA ON A MEMBER- 

CENTRIC GOAL OF DIGITAL 

TRANSFORMATION THAT 

IS ACCELERATING OPERA- 

TIONAL EXCELLENCE AND 

BUSINESS GROWTH 

140 

ruliant Federal Credit Union, a 66-yearold 

financial institution, has a singular and 

T 

important mission: to improve the lives 

of its members. According to Sandeep Uthra, 

Truliant’s chief information officer, the credit union 

focuses on helping members make decisions that 

improve and help manage their financial lives. 

Unlike for-profit financial institutions, Truliant 

stays away from pushing products on its members. 

“We are a different kind of company,” he says. 

Truliant has 230,000 members and assets in 

excess of $2.3bn and provides individuals and 

small businesses with products, services and 

guidance to reach their ‘life’s goals’, including 

checking accounts, online and app banking, auto 

buying, certificates and business/financial advice, 

and auto and home loans. According to Uthra, 

Truliant’s USP is its member-centric approach. 

“First and foremost, we are a not-for-profit organization,” 

Uthra said. “That’s the biggest difference 

between us and other banking institutions. 

But, more so, our goal is to improve each of our 


NORTH AMERICA 

141 



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143 

“OUR CEO AND PRESIDENT 

TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW 

TECHNOLOGY’S GOING 

TO REALLY HELP TAKE 

US FORWARD IN MEMBER 

SERVICE” 

— 

Sandeep Uthra 

CIO, Truliant Federal 

Credit Union 

members’ lives, by working as trusted partner 

or provider of the right guidance to achieve 

their financial aims,” Uthra explains. 

“While traditional banking is more about rates 

and fees, all of our products and policies are 

consumer, not market, driven. We put people 

before profit. We are member-centric. We’re 

not just here to make money. This helps our 

members create financial security within their 

own aspirations. ” 

IN THE BEGINNING 

Uthra joined Truliant in late 2016 as CIO. 

He was charged with helping shepherd the 



144 


Sandeep Uthra 

Sandeep has over 20 years of experience developing and executing 

information technology (IT) strategies, including serving in executive 

roles in the financial services space. 

A native of New Delhi, India, Mr. Uthra has served in global 

IT leadership roles in product, consulting and financial 

corporations in Asia, Africa and the United States. Most 

notably, Mr. Uthra was Senior Vice President, Business 

Solutions Technology Executive at Bank of America. 

He leads Truliant’s Enterprise Service Delivery, Enterprise 

Architecture, Application Development, Systems 

Operations, Technology Support Services, Infrastructure 

Services, Information Security, and 

Telecommunications teams. 


NORTH AMERICA 

145 

strategic direction for Truliant’s overall 

technology landscape and to help 

drive its technology transformation. 

“As a trusted advisor in the company, 

I needed to get us to a point where 

we better understood business and 

members’ needs as per our company’s 

objectives.” 

Uthra’s highly strategic role was to 

help develop a roadmap that would 

achieve Truliant’s business plans by 

leveraging technology. “As part of the 

Chief Planning Team, I’ve worked hard 

to understand business needs as well 

as those of our members with technological 

solutions to achieve those goals. 

We really tailor our offerings as per our 

members’ needs to provide a top-notch 

member service.” Truliant targets 

locations where they are needed most 

and still operates a traditional guidancebased 

approach. “We’re very big on 

face-to-face interactions. We don’t 

want to remove the humanity in front of 

us. We will always keep face-to-face 

interactions.” 

THE HUMAN TOUCH 

While human-centric guidance is at the 

heart of Truliant’s approach, it is adopting 



146 

“I HAVE OTHER 

COMPANIES LIKE 

MERIDIANLINK WHO 

SUPPORT US FROM 

A LENDING PLATFORM 

STANDPOINT AND 

THEN SECURITY 

PARTNERS SUCH AS 

FLEXENTIAL WHO 

PROVIDES HOSTING 

CAPABILITY” 

— 

Sandeep Uthra 

CIO, Truliant Federal 

Credit Union 

more technologically advanced processes 

to better prepare for the future of banking. 

“Members are changing the way they interact 

with financial institutions,” he explains. “I think 

we all know that these days people compare 

our sector with companies like Amazon, right? 

They want us to be simple and nimble – like 

shopping on Amazon. This demand is driving 

us to create a simpler, more nimble and 

innovative personalization for all members. 

The consumer experience is king.” 

“On the other hand, data is at the consumer’s 

fingertips from many external sources to 

compare product or services so they are well 

informed. It is in our best interest to know 

consumers’ personalized needs in a faster 

and agile way, to provide them with the best 

in-class experience. To make all this happen, 

we have focused on technology architecture, 

because speed is the new currency in 

financial institutions. 

These days, technology architecture must 

be simple enough to support integrated 

channels and with an alignment of data to 

understand or predict members’ needs. 

“Simplification and Personalization is the 

game here,” Uthra explains. “Financial 

institutions should work to simplify their 

technology landscape and leverage microservices 

or APIs (application programming 


NORTH AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: USING THE TRU2GO APP 

147 

interfaces), to support faster and more 

nimble integration with cutting-edge 

products and services.” 

DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS 

When Uthra joined Truliant Federal 

Credit Union, he hired an enterprise 

architect to help build out business 

technology ecosystems to understand 

dynamics around business units, 

functions, processes and underlying 

technology. He then sat with internal 

teams and critical partners to identify 

friction between those ecosystem 

constructs. This resulted in a maturity 

index of processes and technology, 

which gave Truliant a direction for 

future investment to achieve its goal of 

simplification and optimization of the 

members’ journeys/interactions. “Our 

vision is to enable consumers of our 

technology with a simple, faster and 

personalized experience. “Our CEO 

and President truly understand how 

technology’s going to really help take 

us forward in the personalized member 

service. 

“We know that it’s important to adapt 

and evolve quickly in line with the 

fast-paced changes in today’s financial 



148 

services landscape. Our goal is to create 

an impactful, best-in-class digital journey 

that is both dynamic and personal, and 

maintains an authentic human connection,” 

says Truliant President Todd Hall. 

The other important factor in Truliant’s 

technology transformation is partnership 

with fintechs and product companies 

for technology transformation. 

“Our strategic partners support us to 

achieve our vision. Companies like Fiserv 

who support our core banking 

platform perspective. MeridianLink 

provides lending capabilities and 

Flexential provides hosting capability. 

Veristor enables us with virtualized 

environment, to aid better manageability 

and performance and security of 

infrastructure – because it’s not just 

about spending or investing in infrastructure, 

it’s more about how to optimize 

that in terms of performance and security. 

Palo Alto Network really helped us to 

safeguard our technology and infrastructure 

and Secureworks provides 

information security capabilities.” 

FUTURE TRENDS 

For Uthra, the future of the industry lies 

in ecosystem-driven personalization. 

“I see these three things happening in 

the near future: simpler, faster and 

personalization. If I’m a member, and 

I need a home, normally I would reach 

out to a realtor or a mortgage or lending 

company. We reach out to the builder 

and to many other folks to achieve that 

goal for our family. But an ecosystem 

approach asks: ‘Why can’t we bring all 

these kinds of players into same 

ecosystem and make it happen? So, as 

a customer or a member, I will just reach 

out to a bank or financial institution like 


NORTH AMERICA 

34 

Number of office 

locations 

$2.3bn 

Approximate 

value of assets 

1952 

Year founded 

149 

Truliant and say, ‘I need a home.’” 

Uthra also sees increasing leverage 

of APIs for greater integration in sector 

technology with many third-party or 

indirect product companies. I see 

artificial intelligence and data playing 

a big role. Data is going to provide 

integration value because it will predict 

and say what our customers or members 

are asking and at what point in time. 

“I take pride in leading this vision 

because of our people and culture. I’m 

really fortunate to feel that I’m part of 

this high technology team that brings 

those kinds of innovations together.” 


150 

Changing 

mindsets 

through 

technology 

transformation 

WRIT TEN BY 

SEAN GALEA-PACE 

PRODUCED BY 

ANDY TURNER 


NORTH AMERICA 

151 


BRAY INTERNATIONAL, INC. 

Brindesh Dhruva, Chief 

Technology Officer of 

Bray International, discusses 

the company’s ongoing 

technology journey 

152 

ray International, Inc. was founded in 

B 

1986 with a customer-centric objective 

to become the preferred flow control 

partner. Bray’s global footprint and distribution 

networks, along with a comprehensive line of 

innovative flow control solutions, has enabled us 

to become an international industry leader. 

Thanks to unrelenting commitment to quality and 

customer service, clients around the world have 

made Bray their trusted partner. After 30 plus 

years, Bray’s focus hasn’t changed. Bray International, 

Inc. remains your local flow control partner 

with a global reach. 

Our customers face the day-to-day prospect of 

operating in increasingly extreme conditions in a 

safe and environmentally responsible way. The 

product technologies and solutions that we offer 

must maintain pace with these demands,” states 

Brindesh Dhruva, Chief Technology Officer. Since 

joining Bray International in early 2013, he has 

been tasked with steering the company’s technology 

transformation, creating innovative solutions 

and products that its customers can rely on. 


NORTH AMERICA 

Raymond Technical Center 

153 

CAD design facilities 

Holding a Doctorate from Yale in Engineering 

and having previously worked in the 

Upstream O&G Industry for over 13 years 

across a variety of roles such as Marketing 

& Technology Manager prior to joining 

Bray, Dhruva believes his early engineering 

experiences in developing products with a 

high demand on reliability and performance 

helps him in his current role as CTO of Bray. 

“Over the past several years we have been 

able to develop world-class solutions and 

products. In doing so, we have utilized, for 

example, additive manufacturing techniques 

for control valve applications and smart sen- 


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“It’s about putting 

together a global 

team that has the right 

capabilities and infrastructure 

that allows 

us to develop, validate 

and produce products 

that exceed customer 

expectations” 

— 

Brindesh Dhruva, 

Chief Technology Officer of Bray International 

sors to develop real-time monitoring.” 

Just over 30 years ago, the Founders 

of the company – Craig Brown 

and Frank Raymond revolutionized 

the global rotary flow control market. 

Today, Bray provides global distribution 

and manufacturing with locally available 

service and expertise for a variety 

of flow control products. Bray’s products 

have extensive application in a 

wide range of critical services. These 

include butterfly valves in cryogenic 

conditions for an LNG application 

to Severe Service Ball Valves in very 

high temperature & corrosive condi- 


NORTH AMERICA 

Bray USA Facility 

155 


Brindesh Dhruva 

Brindesh is currently Chief Technology Officer 

for Bray Internationals Inc., responsible for Global 

R&D and Product Management. Brindesh holds a 

Ph.D. in Engineering & Applied Sciences from Yale 

University and has over 20 years of experience 

in Technology & Marketing developing high-tier 

products and delivering commercial success. 



“As long as we understand our customer’s 

needs and as long as we understand the 

moving technology pieces, we will continue 

to grow as the technology partner of choice” 

— 



156 


NORTH AMERICA 

tions in a refinery application. Bray’s 

extensive product portfolio includes 

resilient seated and high-performance 

butterfly valves, critical service triple 

offset valves, floating and trunnion 

ball valves, metal seated ball valves, 

actuators, and control accessories 

to enable smart technology. The application 

of this portfolio is even more 

diverse and includes circulating water, 

flue gas desulfurization, demineralized 

water, fuel oil (fire safe), service water, 

steam, fuel gas, potable water, water/ 

glycol, and various other compounds. 

Such rapid progress has been the 

result of Bray’s commitment to its research 

& development (R&D) and operations 

in the US, India and China where 

its main Manufacturing, Engineering 

and R&D Labs are located. Expanding 

similar capabilities in Latin America, 

Europe and Australia has also been an 

integral part of Bray’s growth. It’s this 

visionary commitment, which Dhruva 

affirms, has been important in building 

the foundations for long-term success. 

“Over the last several years we have 

reinforced the right technical teams 

by strengthening the link between 

manufacturing, engineering and 

sales. We have also reinforced the 

157 



158 

“I’m a firm 

believer that 

good product 

introduction 

doesn’t happen 

accidentally. 

It comes as a 

result of a very 

deliberate 

approach 

of bringing 

products to 

market” 

— 


Chief Technology Officer 

of Bray International 

right product development process which 

starts with the voice of our customers and 

ends with their satisfaction. It’s about putting 

together a global team that has the right 

capabilities and infrastructure that allows 

us to develop, validate and produce products 

that exceed customer expectations in 

terms of reliability and performance,” says 

Dhruva. “That’s the way we operate! That’s 

what defines the products, technologies and 

services we aspire to continuously provide.” 

Indeed, Bray continues to evolve and has 

transformed itself into a technology company 

that can deliver highly customized, highly 

engineered products and services for a wide 

range of severe applications. Dhruva points 

out that these types of transformations start 

at the top and percolate down. “Bray has a 

rich history, full of achievements, which we are 

all very proud of, but the Founders of the company 

continue to see an even brighter future 

in terms of growth and technology innovation.” 

INTRODUCING NEW PRODUCTS TO MARKET 

Recent technical and commercial successes 

include Tri Lok – Triple Offset Butterfly Valve, 

Series 98 Scotch Yoke Pneumatic Actuator, 

M1 Severe Service Ball Valve, S19 Segmented 

Control Valve and numerous other valves, actuators 

and controls accessories. The product 

capabilities along with global Applications 


NORTH AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: WORKING FOR BRAY INTERNATIONAL 

159 

Engineers that understand the customer’s 

challenges enable Bray to provide 

not just good products, but good 

solutions for our customer’s needs. 

The technical success of our products 

relies heavily on the design and 

validation steps within the Bray Product 

Development Process all of which 

conform to ISO 9001 standards. Bray’s 

Global Technology presence spans 

multiple R&D locations around the 

world including India, UK, Brazil and 

in Houston’s Bray Raymond Technology 

Center – proudly named after one 

of its founders, Frank Raymond. The 

design decisions at Bray are made in 

line with customer requirements and 

with product reliability, manufacturability 

and product cost in mind. “Our 

Engineers must understand the difference 

between investment casting 

and sand casting…and they must 

understand how tight tolerances and 

surface finish requirements impact 

manufacturability (costs) just as much 

as product performance” says Dhruva. 

The qualification of products program 

includes not only design validation 

but also validation of the manufacturing 

process to be able to produce 



160 

“It’s important we keep 

up with what our 

customers face today, 

but also respond to the 

technology trends in 

the industry that will 

take them to the next 

level tomorrow” 

— 



product with consistent high quality. 

Commercial success doesn’t come 

serendipitously, even for great products. 

It begins during the early phases 

of a product development process in 

identifying customer needs, getting 

their input & influence into the design 

process and ensuring good market 

introduction. “I’m a firm believer that 

good product introduction doesn’t 

happen accidentally. It comes as a 

result of a very deliberate approach of 

bringing products to market,” explains 

Dhruva. “That means we engage our 

customers very early on during development 

to ensure we get the requirements 

right. It means we understand 

the voice of the customer, the customer’s 

needs and then incorporate those 

findings into our product requirements 

and our service & sales organization.” 

With industry 4.0 driving the manufacturing 

industry forward, companies 

such as Bray rely on innovation and the 

ability to understand the latest trends 

to leverage & provide products & solutions. 

“It’s important we keep up with 


NORTH AMERICA 

161 



1986 

Year founded 

2,500 


of employees 

162 

what our customers face today, but 

also respond to the technology trends 

in the industry that will take them to 

the next level tomorrow. There are 

two examples that I would highlight 

here. One is on additive manufacturing 

where we’ve worked through a super 

partnership to 3D-Print metal components 

in a control valve application to 

significantly improve flow performance 

by incorporating design features that 

aren’t possible with traditional casting 

and forging processes.” says Dhruva. 

“The second example involves devel- 


NORTH AMERICA 

163 

oping predictive monitoring with near 

real-time measurements on valves 

that will provide performance diagnosis 

in a proactive and predictive way.” 

FUTURE PLANS 

With Bray several years into their 

technology transformation journey, 

Dhruva believes the company’s ability 

to quickly evolve to address the 

growing market needs and leverage 

technology trends is key to continued 

and sustainable growth. 

“As long as we understand our 

customer’s needs and as long as we 

understand the moving technology 

pieces, we will continue to grow as the 

technology partner of choice. Bray 

has the people, processes and the 

technology infrastructure to meet our 

customer’s most difficult needs.” 


164 

JOHNSON BROTHERS 

Enabling organic 

growth through digital 


WRIT TEN BY 

CATHERINE STURMAN 

PRODUCED BY 

ANDY TURNER 


NORTH AMERICA 

165 



In the alcohol distribution 

business for over 65 years, 

Johnson Brothers has built 

a digitally enabled workforce 

that delivers outstanding 

customer service each and 

every time 

166 

lcohol is big business. Amounting to more 

A 

than 16% of total beverage volume across 

the US, total alcoholic beverage sales 

in 2017 exceeded US$234.4bn, a figure which 

continues to rise. While beer remains a key staple 

with 185.57mn barrels produced in the US in 2017, 

demand for wine and spirits is also on an upward 

trajectory. As US consumers continue to drive up 

sales across the industry, opportunities have ascended 

for strong, market-savvy players to take full advantage 

and transform their service offerings. 

Providing exceptional services to its customers and 

supplier partners since 1953, wine, spirits and beer 

distributor Johnson Brothers has a long-term vision 

to leverage their longstanding values of excellence 

and team work to drive innovation as it enters new 

markets. Proud of its strong heritage in Minnesota, 

the business has acquired a number of businesses, 

launched a new distribution center and strengthened 

its supplier relationships as part of its ongoing 

strategy to enable organic customer growth. 

Our warehouse and 

delivery team members 

use technology to sort 

and manage product 


NORTH AMERICA 

167 


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NORTH AMERICA 

A Johnson Brothers truck 

in front of our warehouse 

169 

Michael Johnson, Chief Executive 

Officer, and Todd Johnson, Chief 

Operating Officer are the Johnson 

Brothers who run the company that 

was founded by their father Lynn. 

Todd describes how technology 

strategy will enable growth, “My dad 

started the company in 1953. He 

bought a used truck, rented a small 

warehouse and opened his doors for 

business. There was no technology 

back then – everything was done by 

hand. Over the next 65 years, we’ve 

grown across multiple states and 

developed partnerships with some 

of the best suppliers and customers 

in our industry. Today, technology is 

critical to our business, from providing 

tools to our sales consultants, sharing 

market trends with our customers, as 

well as improving the efficiency of our 

distribution operations.” 

Bringing this strategy to fruition at 

Johnson Brothers is Vice President of 

IT, Tim Dokken. Working for established 

Fortune 500 organizations, such as 

American Express Global, Thrivent 

Financial and Merrill Corporation, with 

a career spanning accounting, finance, 

consulting and all aspects of technol- 



Warehouse employee 

filling customer orders 

170 


Tim Dokken 

Tim is a passionate, senior technology executive with 

over 24 years of financial services experience, delivering 

solutions to businesses and consumers globally. He is 

currently serving as the Vice President — Information 

Technology at Johnson Brothers in St. Paul, MN. 

Previously, he was the Chief Technology Officer of 

LiveGiveSave, Inc., whose mission is to help people 

through their everyday spending to effortlessly give to 

causes they care about and save for their future. 


NORTH AMERICA 

“The focus was to support 

the infrastructure 

side: our data centers, 

servers, all of our 

networking, end user 

computing, IT service 

delivery, etc. It’s really 

the operational side 

of IT” 

— 

Tim Dokken, 

Vice President of Information Technology 

171 

ogy including leading large IT modernization 

programs, as well as launching 

a technology start up. Dokken’s passion 

to develop companies from the ground 

up led him to join Johnson Brothers. 

“The focus was to support the infrastructure 

side: our data centers, servers, 

all of our networking, end user computing, 

IT service delivery, etc. It’s really the 

operational side of IT. Everything that 

all the applications and data run on, 

that’s what I own,” he says. 

“A lot has changed in the last year. 

We’re moving to a brand-new data 

center which will go live in January 

with an entirely new production 

environment. That’s literally from the 

ground up. Storage, compute, networking, 

plus we’ve implemented a 

new IBM Power Series for our ERP 

system. We have experienced a 

dramatic amount of growth in the last 

year and part of what we’re doing is 

to prepare the organization for future 

growth and ensure that technology 

is an enabler and not a barrier.” 



“Our new production 

environment is at 

least 10-20x faster 

to accommodate for 

growth and the 

ability to process 

more business” 

— 

Tim Dokken, 

Vice President of 

Information Technology 

172 

Moving what had previously filled 

an entire room in its former data center 

onto two racks in its new environment, 

Johnson Brothers has invested in a 

hyper-converged infrastructure, and 

has embedded cutting-edge technologies, 

whether compute, all flash 

storage, unified backup or network, 

including a full SD-WAN. The company 

has developed strong relationships 

with Dell, Nutanix, Datatrend and 

others in turning its three-tier architecture 

into a state of the art hyperconverged 

infrastructure, delivering 

optimal compute and storage capacity, 

and most importantly, speed. 

“Our new production environment is 

at least 10-20x faster to accommodate 

for growth and the ability to process 

more business. For example, our 

backups for our ERP system used to run 

all night long on Sunday night and take 

everything offline. Now we’re down to 

less than two hours and that’s not even 

on our new IBM Power 9 Server yet,” 

adds Dokken. 

The complete modernization of its 

technology stack remains an important 

part of its strategy, leading Johnson 

Brothers to leverage the capabilities 


NORTH AMERICA 

173 

of its vendors. Putting workloads into 

Azure for sales applications and 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) for 

offsite storage, the business has 

sought to ensure both resiliency and 

redundancy, as well as recoverability 

through offsite data storage. Investing 

in Microsoft’s entire suite of security 

tools and capabilities, as well as 

third party products such as Cylance 

has also formed part of its ‘defense 

in depth’ strategy. All of this has 

worked to support Dokken and his 

team adhering to its internal slogan: 

‘Always on, Always fast, Always secure.’ 

Cloud technology has also been 

adopted to support both local and 

remote workers as the business continues 

to expand, becoming one of the 

fastest and most vital investments 

across the business. Utilizing sales 

tools and platforms from Inventive 

and Dimensional Insights has enabled 

our mobile Salesforce to effectively 

serve our customers. 

“Cloud has remained a key strategy 

for growth, where our sales team are 

now entirely cloud enabled, running 

all data and applications through both 

computers and iPads.” Promoting full 



174 

COMPANY FACTS 

• Amounting to more than 

16% of total beverage volume 

across the US, total alcoholic 

beverage sales in 2017 

exceeded US$234.4bn 

• Johnson Brothers has 

invested in a hyper-converged 

infrastructure, 

utilized solid state storage 

and has embedded cuttingedge 

technologies 

• The company has developed 

strong relationships 

with Dell, Lenovo, Nutanix 

and others, turning its threetier 

architecture into a 

hyper-converged 

infrastructure 

• Putting workloads into 

Azure and Amazon Web Services 

(AWS) for offsite 

storage, the business has 

sought to ensure both resiliency 

and redundancy, as 

well as recoverability 

through offsite data storage 

Technology improves efficiency and 

monitors processes in our warehouses 


NORTH AMERICA 

November 2018 charity food packing event where 70 employees 

packed more than 21,000 meals for local children and families 

175 

accessibility for customers who wish 

to speak to the sales team, anytime, 

anywhere will allow the business to 

deliver services in a rapid fashion, 

removing the constraints of an onsite 

data center. 

“We’re expanding many of our 

applications, so our core systems are 

cloud delivered versus having to host 

those in our data center. That frees 

up our team to focus on the systems 

which really drive business value. On 

the corporate systems, it’s a way to 

make sure that our resources can focus 

on what creates the most business 

value and leaves the other things to 

the SaaS providers,” explains Dokken. 

Nonetheless, the most important 

investment throughout the digital 

transformation of Johnson Brothers 

has been its team. The decision to 

move away from legacy technologies, 

overhaul the entire production environment, 

move to a new data center and 

rebuild the network has been met with 

excitement, and provided new opportunities 

for the personal and professional 

growth for team members. 



176 

St. Paul Warehouse and Headquarters 

“My focus is to continue 

creating opportunities 

for the team. If I’m gone 

tomorrow, my objective 

as a leader is that they 

will be self-sufficient and 

will provide a seamless 

service the business can 

be proud of” 

— 

Tim Dokken, 

Vice President of 

Information Technology 

“The team are the ones doing the 

heavy lifting; the most significant role 

I’ve played is to really clear the deck. 

I saw an opportunity and helped craft 

a vision, but the team is responsible for 

its success, looking at how to achieve 

this vision, the technology to use, as 

well as evaluating things like ‘what 

should our recovery strategy look like’ 

and ‘what data center should we run 

out of?’ So, they’ve been instrumental 

in these decisions, which has been 

very engaging and motivating. My team 


NORTH AMERICA 

is really proud of their work,” he states 

with pride. 

Making a conscious decision 

to partner with a consulting firm or 

provider has also proven advantageous 

in enabling employees to work 

on systems and technologies that 

drive the most business value without 

burdening the team and has allowed 

the company to reach some of its key 

goals in a shorter amount of time. “In 

terms of core engineers, I have a small 

team so we have to supplement that 

with outside resources. At the same 

time, making sure our employees get 

to work on the high-quality work is 

a core strategy.” 

Dokken went on to say, “My focus 

is to continue creating opportunities 

for the team. If I’m gone tomorrow, my 

objective as a leader is that they will 

be self-sufficient and will provide a 

seamless service the business can 

be proud of. The team can pick up the 

ball, move forward, are enabled and 

ready, and are open to new opportunities 

to take the business forward.” 

Clearly demonstrating that technology 

is an enabler and not a barrier 

at Johnson Brothers, Dokken remains 

keen to promote its internal slogan 

‘Always on, Always fast, Always 

Secure’, which will see the business 

reach new heights in the upcoming 

years and ensure its longevity and 

competitiveness across the industry. 

“As we continue to grow, we are 

thrilled that our IT infrastructure is 

ready to support our business and be 

a key part of our company’s success,” 

added Johnson. 

177 



EUROPE 

179 

Blending world-class 

digital transformation 

and science 

WRIT TEN BY 

LAURA MULLAN 

PRODUCED BY 

LEWIS VAUGHAN 


MET OFFICE 

Blending scientific expertise 

and technological prowess, 

the Met Office’s latest digital 

transformation is showing its 

peers how it’s done 

180 

In the ‘60s, George Moore made a prediction that 

would set the pace of today's digital revolution. In 

a theory commonly dubbed as Moore’s Law, he 

forecast that the overall processing power of 

computers will double every two years or so. For 

the Met Office – the United Kingdom’s national 

weather service and climate agency – this prediction 

has proven to be a pertinent one. Processing vast 

amounts of climate and weather data from across 

the globe, Charles Ewen, CIO at the Met Office says 

that IT plays a critical role at the organisation, noting 

that his team aim to “provide world-class technology 

to support world-leading science”. 

Without computers, weather forecasting as we 

know it would simply be impossible. Technology 

has played a pivotal role in understanding the weather 

for decades. In the 50s, the Met Office acquired its 

first electrical desk calculator and fast forward to 

today and the organisation have implemented the 

Cray XC40 supercomputer, or High-Performance 

Computer (HPC). At around 15 times the size of its 

predecessor, this mammoth machine is one of the 

most powerful supercomputers in the world, capable 

of completing 14,000trn calculations per second. 


EUROPE 

181 


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EUROPE 

“We provide worldclass 

technology 

to support worldleading 

science” 

— 

Charles Ewen, 

Chief Information Officer, Met Office 

183 

Ewen says that this supercomputer 

is instrumental in weather forecasting 

and climate prediction by making it 

possible to increase fidelity and resolution 

and provide more complete Earth 

System models. “The supercomputer 

contributes an awful lot because you 

can run models at finer resolutions with 

a lot more complexity,” he says. “They 

take into account more of the physics 

and chemistry that is involved and you 

can operate them over longer timescales 

and run simulations more frequently. 

We can also run the same model 

a number of times with some different 

assumptions and from that we can 

provide information about probabilities 

and likelihoods.” 

Weather forecasting, Ewen explains, 

is an intricate balance of science and 

technology on a vast scale. At the Met 

Office, the organisation has been using 

innovations like data analytics for 

decades. “We’ve been working with 

data analytics at a large scale for many 

years although we typically don’t call 

these roles ‘data analysts’,” affirms 

Ewen. “We have chief meteorologists, 

for example, and their job is to look at 

what the computer simulations say and 


MET OFFICE 

have some type of qualitative, contextual 

or impact assessment of what that 

data means. Our team have a unique 

blend of skills in data science, statistics, 

computer programming and more.” 

The sheer size of the Met Office’s 

data pool cannot be overstated and 

as a result, the organisation shrewdly 

decided to shift to the cloud, partnering 

with technology giants such as 

Amazon Web Services, Google and 

Microsoft. “It’s still a journey,” reflects 

Ewen. “We certainly recognise that the 

move to the cloud gives us a combination 

of scale, elasticity, affordability and the 

capability that we need to support our 

world-class science teams.” Right now, 

the cloud does not fulfil the needs of its 

184 


EUROPE 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘WHY DO WE NAME STORMS?’ 

185 

core simulations however as Ewen 

comments, “there is a lot of technology 

needed to convert those core simulations 

into the thousands of contextual 

forecasts and services that we produce 

every day”. 

One of the most fundamental items 

in the Met Office’s toolkit is its simulations. 

Complex and state-of-the-art, 

this technology applies scientific 

knowledge to predict future atmospheric 

conditions across the globe 

using observations of the current 

weather captured from land, at sea, 

in the air, and from space. Ewen likens 


MET OFFICE 

186 

this to predicting a coin toss. Based 

on averages or statistics, you could 

contend that it’s a 50/50 chance that 

it will be either heads or tails, whereas 

the Met Office is trying accurately to 

simulate what side the coin will land on. 

“A statistical approach to weather 

forecasting doesn't give you the infor– 

mation you need because you want to 

know about anomalies, you want to 

know about extreme weather and you 

want to know about intensity. You don't 

want to know about averages. Essentially 

that is what the climate analysis 

tells you but a weather forecast is about 

the specifics of a given time and place.” 

For many citizens, the weather fore– 

cast informs many day-to-day decisions 

like whether they should cut the grass 

tomorrow, what they should wear or 

how they should travel. It’s also vital for 

industries, allowing them to mitigate 

safety risks like preventing people from 

working outdoors in hazardous cond– 

itions. Emerging technologies like 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer the 

potential to take one step further. “I 

can be somewhat unpopular at work 

when I say that few people actually 

want a weather forecast,” Ewen says 

“more frequently, people or increas- 

“The supercomputer 

contributes an awful 

lot because you can 

run models at finer 

resolutions with a lot 

more complexity” 

— 

Charles Ewen, 



EUROPE 

187 


MET OFFICE 

188 

ingly machines are trying to make a 

decision that is only partly about the 

weather. We are actively researching 

to understand how to better communicate 

the weather and future climate to 

these systems. Human beings are 

constrained in terms of how more 

statistics help better decision making, 

AI does not have that particular constraint,” 

he says. 

Elsewhere, by applying Google Deep 

Mind, the office is hoping to research 

the realm of ‘nowcasting’ a form of 

weather prediction which uses radar 

returns and other observations to show 

how the weather may apply to more 

short-term localised regions. “If you 

watch this morning’s weather forecast 

and it says there’s likely to be heavy 

showers at 10 o’clock you might look 

out your window at that time to see no 

rain. It might be a very near miss spatially; 

it might rain in 20 minutes but not exactly 

at 10 o’clock. Nowcasting, as opposed 

to forecasting, applies statistics to see 

how the weather may evolve in the 

short term.” 

Whilst technology plays a key role in 

the Met Office’s digital transformation 

roadmap, Ewen asserts that it’s the 

people that are at the crux of its 


EUROPE 

Charles Ewen, 

Chief Information Officer 

Met Office 

success. As such, a key part of the 

organisation’s strategy revolves around 

people. “Within our strategy we have 

a plan to attract retain and develop our 

people and so it’s clearly very important. 

We talk about mastery, autonomy 

and purpose. Mastery refers to developing 

the unique blend of skills that we 

need so we invest strongly in training 

our people,” he says. Indeed, Met Office 

has developed a variety of new 

apprenticeships and works to broaden 

its relationship with academic settings. 

“We also try to create an exciting 

environment that people want to work 

in,” he adds. 

The Met Office has worked hard to 

forge a work culture which strives to do 

more. The biggest barrier to continuous 

improvement? Sparking a cultural shift 

whereby people recognise the need to 

change. “That can be tricky when you’re 

a world leading organisation at the top 

of its game,” admits Ewen. “However, 

because we’re an organisation full of 

bright and able people we can see 

where some of the future challenges 

and opportunities lie. Because of that, 

it's important to start to change ideally 

ahead of when you really need to, which 

is what we've been trying to do.” 

189 


MET OFFICE 

190 

One example of this lies at the Met Offices 

fingertips – its supercomputer. As Moore’s 

Law dictates, computer processing power 

will only continue to expand over the coming 

years and the Met Office needs to be ready 

to tap into the potential of future supercomputers. 

“Because the of scale our operations 

are so large, it can be difficult to predict what 

the technology environment will look like in 

the future. Take supercomputers, for example, 

we’re always looking five to ten years in the 

future. It’s important to realise what you need 

to change now, to be lucid and clear about 

what the target destination looks like.” 

By all accounts, cutting-edge science and 

technology are the bread and butter of the 

weather forecasting. Whether it's going to 

be blustery or raining, the blend of the two 

means that we can predict the weather more 

accurately than ever. “Every ten years, the 

weather forecast has improved with the 

same accuracy being available a day earlier,” 

concludes Ewen. “In other words, a four-day 

weather forecast is as accurate as a threeday 

forecast was ten years ago. That shows 

the rate of progress and technology undoubtedly 

plays an important part of that.” 


EUROPE 

“We certainly recognise that 

the move to the cloud gives 

us a combination of scale, 

elasticity, affordability and 

the capability that we need 

to support our world-class 

science teams” 

— 

Charles Ewen, 


191 


192 

INEA 

Utilising 

technology 

in the 

telecoms 

sector 

WRIT TEN BY 


PRODUCED BY 

JAMES PEPPER 


EUROPE 

193 


INEA 

Management Board Member 

and Chief Operating Officer 

of INEA, Michał Bartkowiak, 

discusses how his company 

is utilising technology amid 

digital transformation in 

the industry. 

194 

s the fastest broadband and Wi-Fi provider 

A 

in Poland in 2018, INEA has achieved 

significant success during the last year. 

Michał Bartkowiak, Management Board Member 

and Chief Operating Officer of INEA, believes 

innovation and the company’s willingness to 

embrace technology has been key reasons to 

INEA’s achievements. 

“We are definitely an innovative company. As a 

provider of retail services, we deliver the fastest 

broadband in the world with our flagship offering 

of the symmetric internet with Fibre-To-The-Home 

(FTTH) technology at a speed of 10Gb/s,” affirms 

Bartkowiak. “As an infrastructure operator, we are 

one of the only operators in Europe that actively 

opens the network we use as a services provider 

to other telecommunications operators.” 

Through providing broadband, internet, television, 

mobile and fixed-line telephony services, as well 


EUROPE 

195 


EUROPE 

CLICK TO WATCH: #INEAGOBIG 10 GB/S 

197 

as professional services for business 

and public sector, Bartkowiak believes 

that INEA has become successful due 

the company’s ability to diversify. 

“One of the great features of the 

world that surrounds us is diversity. 

Attitudes and business models of 

companies from the TMT sector 

differ from one another and a result, 

a specific market space has been 

created for each of us, where we can 

operate and experiment,” he explains. 

“If we look at the telecommunications 

market in Europe, it becomes evident 

that we differ from many companies 

because of our way of thinking. We 

are a technological leader in the region 

with a state-of-the-art infrastructure 

that we aren’t afraid to use.” 

With more than 250,000 customers, 

INEA value their investments in rural 

areas having introduced the last mile 

network which covers over 70,000 

households in rural areas within the 

Greater Poland region. The implementation 

of the network has allowed 

INEA to collect data in order to better 

understand the needs of residents 


INEA 

in the region. “The last mile network in rural areas 

enabled us to collect valuable experience, both in 

terms of the construction of a network in such area 

and the service sales potential. Now, we have a better 

understanding of the needs of the residents and 

we’re ready to expand such networks in Poland.” 

198 

MAKING SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENTS 

As a leading firm in the field of fibre-optic infrastructure 

in the Greater Poland region, INEA has invested 

more than $266mn in the infrastructure during the 

past six years. “These were investments implemented 

in two areas, such as construction of fibre-optic 

networks in the FTTH standard and reconstruction 

of the existing infrastructure to this standard,” 

says Bartkowiak. “The main projects involved the 

construction of a broad-band backbone network 

in Wielkopolska in 2013, the construction of last mile 

networks and the reconstruction of the infrastructure 

in towns and cities from Hybrid Fibre Coax 

(HFC) to FTTH standard.” 

During the past two years, INEA took part in 

a competition under the Operating Programme 

Digital Poland, conducted by the Ministry of Digitalisation 

in Poland and won in more than 20 regions. 

In order to remain a leader in the industry, INEA has 

made strategic decisions in order to adapt to 

changes in the industry. Bartkowiak affirms how 

vital it is to embrace the latest technology or risk 

being overtaken by its rivals. 


EUROPE 

“As an infrastructure operator, 

we are one of the only operators in 

Europe that actively opens the network 

we use as a services provider to other 

telecommunications operators” 

— 

Michał Bartkowiak, 

Management Board Member and COO of INEA 

199 


INEA 

€100mn 

Approximate 

revenue 

1994 

Year founded 

200 

820 


of employees 

“It’s of key importance to observe the 

changes happening by using technology 

in different aspects of our lives. 

We have to examine how our expectations 

to the products or services that 

we are using is changing. It’s important 

to observe the entire spectrum of 

innovations taking place in the world,” 

he explains. “We can’t afford to wait 

for another market challenger in the 

industry who will force us into action. 

We need to make decisions on our own 

and try to be the leaders by assuming 

the risk of wrong decisions. Technology 

becomes devalued very quickly, so 

we need to fully maximise its potential. 

I believe that passive waiting is the 

worst thing one can do.” 


EUROPE 

201 

The part of the team (from left): Krzysztof Kwiatkowski – responsible for network construction 

and maintenance, Marta Myszkowska – responsible for customer care quality, Tomasz Zmyślny 

– Head of Marketing & PR, Alicja Kakała-Szadłowska - Procurement Manager, Maciej Piechociński 

– Head of Sales, Krystyna Sawczuk – Head of HR and Krzysztof Marciniak – Head of IT 

FORMING KEY PARTNERSHIPS 

During the last two years, INEA and 

Orange Poland signed agreements 

on the wholesale access to its infrastructure 

in the LLU and BSA model. 

And this is just the beginning of INEA’s 

open network strategy. Bartkowiak 

believes the contract with Orange has 

been one of the company’s biggest 

achievements. “From the perspective 

of the open network model development, 

the contract with Orange Poland 

was a significant achievement. We 

provided the company with our 

infrastructure for the sale of retail 

services. From the perspective of the 

Polish market, it was the first contract 

of its type and has become an inspira- 


INEA 

202 

tion for others to follow. From our point 

of view, this collaboration confirmed 

the validity of the previously selected 

direction for the development of our 

company.” 

In order to stand a greater chance 

of success, the majority of companies 

opt to form partnerships to drive profit, 

however, Bartkowiak points out what 

INEA requires from its business relationships. 

“You meet good partners, just 

like friends, in difficult situations. Similar 

to everyone in our industry, we are 

working with numerous partners in 

the market. Starting from suppliers 

of equipment and materials, through 

developers of business solutions 

or software, to our closest partners, 

technical and commercial partners, who 

work in the field. Without their knowledge, 

experience, dynamic operations, 

development or innovation, it would be 

impossible,” he says. “These types of 

relations are very precious and they 

require mutual trust, understanding 

and good communication. It’s difficult 

to sustain such relations; however, we 

don’t surrender and we endeavor to 

work on the continuous improvement 

of this co-operation.” 

In February 2018, Macquarie European 

Infrastructure Fund 5 acquired 

a majority stake in INEA which will 

support continued development and 

growth. “Growth in telecommunication 

requires significant capital expenditure. 

You can have most wonderful ideas but 

without relevant financial back-up, their 

implementation will be impossible,” 

affirms Bartkowiak. “We are glad that it 

is Macquarie that we have the opportunity 

to work with. Due to the fact that 

we share the same vision of INEA 

development, I am convinced that the 

combination of these two elements 

guarantees development and growth.” 

FUTURE PLANS 

With INEA demonstrating an ambition 

to continue to grow despite a changing 

market, Bartkowiak affirms how key it 

is that the company expands on an 

ongoing basis. “We are continuously 

searching for new areas to 

grow. Sometimes, we joke 

that on the day when we 

announce the launch of 

a new product, we are 

already working on 

another one. That was 


EUROPE 

“It’s of key 

importance to 

observe the 

changes 

happening by 

using technology 

in different aspects 

of our lives. We 

have to examine 

how our 

expectations of the 

products or 

services that we 

are using is 

changing. It’s 

important to 

observe the entire 

spectrum of 

innovations taking 

place in the world” 

— 


Management Board Member 

and COO of INEA 

203 


INEA 

204 

“We are continuously 

searching for new areas to 

grow. Sometimes, we joke that 

on the day when we 

announce the launch of 

a new product, we are already 

working on another one. That 

was precisely the case with 

the 10 Gb/s service we started 

this year. It’s vital we act 

quickly because of the way 

the market is changing” 

— 


Management Board Member and COO of INEA 

precisely the case with 10 Gb/s 

service started this year. It’s vital we 

act quickly because of the way the 

market is changing.” 

Looking to the future, Bartkowiak 

believes that INEA remains determined 

to build on its success through 

the implementation of new projects to 

enhance the firm’s existing telecommunication 

infrastructure. “We remain 

focused on the construction of an 

open optic-fibre infrastructure. Having 

won over 20 competitions under the 

Operating Programme Digital Poland, 

we are also implementing projects 

consisting of the expansion of the 

existing telecommunication infrastructure 

and reconstruction of the existing 

one to FTTH standard,” he says. “As a 

result of those projects, we will reach 


EUROPE 

205 

about 700,000 more households 

located in rural areas with our network. 

All the schools located on the territory 

of planned investments will be 

connected to the network and these 

are areas that are digitally excluded, 

where broadband services are 

unavailable today. The residents of 

those areas will have access to 

modern digital services. The method 

of teaching, handling affairs with 

authorities or benefiting from entertainment 

will change and this will 

completely transform the image of 

those towns.” 


Embracing 

technology in 

the hospitality 

206 

industry 

WRIT 

TEN BY 


PRODUCED BY 

LEWIS VAUGHAN 



207

EDWARDIAN HOTELS LONDON 

Director of Information Technology 

of Edwardian Hotels London, 

Michael Mrini discusses how 

technology has acted as an enabler 

for his company’s success as part 

of its digital transformation 

208 

W 

ith innovation at the heart of most companies’ 

success, it has become vital that businesses 

implement new technology that separates 

them from rivals in order to enhance the way they 

conduct operations. The introduction of technology 

has meant that firms can consistently launch new 

tools that will enable them to provide a better service 

to its consumers. For Edwardian Hotels London, 

artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled the company 

to completely transform its customer experience. 

Director of Information Technology of Edwardian 

Hotels London, Michael Mrini, believes that technology 

has allowed people to perform to higher standards. 

“We believe technology acts as an enabler for 

people to do their job better and with less drudgery,” 

he says. “Thanks to the backing and encouragement 

of our chairman and CEO, Jasminder Singh, a great 

visionary and believer in the power of technology as 

an enabler, we were able to develop to pursue this 

route and invest in cutting-edge technology.” 

Having begun his career in 1987 in hospitality, Mrini 

worked his way up from washing up part-time as 

a student, to a job as a bartender, before working 

on the reservations and customer service side of 


EUROPE 

209 



210 

operations at Hyatt Hotels until 1997. 

Mrini subsequently joined Edwardian 

and became the Director of Customer 

Services, before transitioning to the 

position of Director of Information Systems 

until he moved into his current 

role at the beginning of 2012. Such 

experience of working in a number 

of different departments in a hotel 

setting has enabled Mrini to gain 

a working understanding of how each 

area operates and he can draw on 

his experience to achieve success. 

“Since 1997, I haven’t stopped developing 

technology. When I joined as 

a customer services manager, I automated 

that particular department,” 

explains Mrini. “While still being customer 

services manager, and with the help 

and encouragement of Iype Abraham 

who was at the time the head of IT, 

I joined other departments to look at 

what they do and how they do it. From 

the finance side, month-end reports 

used to take someone three days to 

compile. However, from working with 


EUROPE 

them, we turned that into a 30 second 

operation where at the end of the 

month he just presses a button and the 

whole month-end pack is created and 

distributed to senior management.” 

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY 

Innovation is an area which Edwardian 

Hotels London prides itself heavily on. 

Having developed over 32 apps in the 

past five years, the company is utilising 

“We believe 

technology acts 

as an enabler 

for people to 

do their job 

better and with 

less drudgery” 

technology in order to create the best 

— 

Michael Mrini, 

possible guest experience for its cust- Director of Information Technology 

omers. However, the most exciting of Edwardian Hotels London 

211 


Michael Mrini 

Michael joined Edwardian Hotels London (formerly known 

as the Edwardian Group London) in 1997 as Customer 

Services Manager. Software Development and data analysis 

was one of Michael’s passions which he put to good use 

when he introduced automation and data analysis in the 

customer services department during his first year with 

the Company. By the year 2000 Michael had formed 

Edwardian’s first ever software development team and 

through progression, dedication and hard work, is now 

the Group’s Director of Information Technology. 


8 of the 10 

Top Hotels 

Get Better Results with Oracle Hospitality 

oracle.com/hospitality 

or call 1.800.ORACLE.1 

Copyright © 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

EUROPE 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘21ST CENTURY HOSPITALITY – 

EDWARDIAN HOTELS LONDON’ 

213 

innovation has been the launch of 

virtual host “Edward” which handles 

guest enquires such as information 

about the hotel, booking breakfast 

and any other requirements the guest 

needs before, during and after their 

stay. Operated through AI on a phone 

app, Edward can manage more than 

1,600 requests. 

“I travel lots and stay in many hotels 

worldwide so the idea of Edward was 

born out of the frustrations I had. It’s 

annoying when you need information but 

it’s very difficult to find. For example, 

quite often I arrived at an airport some- 

where and then realised I didn’t have the 

name or the address of the hotel where 

I’m staying,” explains Mrini. “Other times 

I’m in the hotel room, and I want to order 

room service but I can’t find the menu in 

the room. You try and make a phone call 

to get someone to deliver the menu and 

you end up calling room service but it’s 

engaged so you wait and wait. But with 

Edward, it comes to you as a guest. 

Edward knows you’re coming because 

three days before you arrive, Edward will 

send you a message and tell you, “Look, 

anything you need, just text me.” Now, 

that facility is in your pocket.” 



214 

“We have found 

a really excellent 

partner in 

Oracle. They 

have supported 

and encouraged 

us over the years 

in what we 

wanted to do” 

— 



of Edwardian Hotels London 


EUROPE 

215 



216 

By having such innovative technology 

at guests’ fingertips, Mrini believes it has 

allowed the company to find out information 

about their customers that 

otherwise wouldn’t have been possible. 

“We search for keywords to see what 

our guests are asking for and what to 

identify. Because of this, we’ve managed 

to learn things we never knew about our 

guests’ behavior, such as most of our 

guests can’t remember whether breakfast 

is included in their booking or not,” 

says Mrini. “Breakfast seems to be the 

last thing they think about before they 

go to bed at night. We also found that 

it’s very important to guests to 

be able to easily find out whether 

their room has been cleaned 

or not. If they’re either out in 

meetings or out and about 

visiting the town, they want to 

know whether their room has 

been cleaned so they can come 

back to the hotel or stay out 

a bit longer and through this 

technology, they can do that.” 

FORMING KEY PARTNERSHIPS 

Such success with the company’s 

AI software couldn’t 


EUROPE 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘MEETINGS AND EVENTS AT EDWARDIAN 

HOTELS LONDON’ 

217 

have been achieved without the work 

of the firm’s key partnership with 

Oracle. The partnership has enabled 

Edwardian Hotels London to make it 

easier to interact with its property 

management system (PMS) and act 

as the catalyst for the success of its 

technological innovations. “We have 

found a really excellent partner in 

Oracle. They have supported and 

encouraged us over the years in what 

we wanted to do,” explains Mrini. “Oracle 

sees what we’re doing as unique in the 

hospitality sector. What they have 

done is help us make it easier for us to 


218 

interact with their PMS system because 

that’s where the bookings are and 

where the check-in/check-out happens. 

Any application we develop needs to 

have a live interface to that system 

otherwise it’s useless.” 

“Edward would be useless if it didn’t 

have access to that live information in 

the booking system because we wouldn’t 

know who that guest is. It wouldn’t 

know the latest changes to the guest 

booking, the ETA, the list goes on. 

I believe they have been fantastic in supporting, 

as by enabling us to have that 

access, it has helped us with the under- 

standing of the core PMS system so 

that we can develop our interface to it.” 

Other key partners that Edwardian 

Hotels London has been supported by 

include BT which helped install the 

Wi-Fi in all of the company’s hotels and 

Alcatel which has provided the internal 

telephone systems for the past 20 

years. “BT has been fantastic in installing 

the Wi-Fi that we have. They have done 

an excellent job at the speed that we 

wanted it done. We like to work with 

partners that can provide quality and 

efficiency and BT were able to do 

a superb job for us in very short period 


EUROPE 

219 

“We search for keywords 

to see what our guests 

are asking for and what to 

identify. Because of this, 

we’ve managed to learn 

things we never knew 

about our guests’ behaviour, 

such as most of our guests 

can’t remember whether 

breakfast is included 

in their booking or not” 

— 




of time when we upgraded the Wi-Fi in 

all of our 12 hotels.” 

“Alcatel is another one of our partners 

that has done a brilliant job with us and 

we have been working with them on 

things like location services and beacons 

within the hotel,” he adds. “They’ve 

been tremendous, and that’s why they 

remain a partner after 20 years.” 

The company currently has 12 UK 

hotels, 11 of which operate in key 

locations in London, with the final hotel 

located in the heart of Manchester. In 

addition, Edwardian Hotels London are 

set to unveil a 13th property in Leices- 



“Technology is 

never going to 

completely take 

over what we do 

and do it for us 

but it’s going to 

enable us to do 

what we do better” 

220 

— 





EUROPE 

ter Square in 2020. With the future 

in mind, Mrini demonstrates a commitment 

to continue to innovate at Edwardian 

Hotels London. “The ultimate goal 

for us is to become the best in hospitality 

and it’s important for us to continue 

to innovate. With technology you never 

know what’s next but one’s things for 

sure, we’re going to continue to improve 

and innovate with AI,” affirms Mrini. 

“We’ve previously dipped our toes in 

before with AI and had fantastic results 

so we’re going to continue to utilise it 

in all the different areas to enable us to 

do a better job. Technology is never 

going to completely take over what 

we do and do it for us but it’s going to 

enable us to do what we do better.” 

221 


222 


striving for success 

WRIT TEN BY 


PRODUCED BY 

LEWIS VAUGHAN 


EUROPE 

223 

: 


UNIVERSIDAD EUROPEA 


has seen its degree 

programmes enhanced 

by new digital tools... 

224 

Offering a dynamic education with 

the spirit of constant improvement, 

Universidad Europea is committed 

to providing an innovative educational 

model, and is focused on adding value 

to society. Actively contributing to its 

progress through education that is designed 

to help students become professionals 

and leaders, the organisation is prepared 

to respond to the needs of a global 

environment. At Universidad Europea, its 

exceptional facilities and educational prog– 

rammes continue to deliver high employment 

outcomes, where its courses seek to turn 

its students into ethical leaders, inspiring 

entrepreneurship, teamwork and creativity. 

Viewing educational technology as 

a global enabler for teaching and learning, 


EUROPE 

225 


UNIVERSIDAD EUROPEA

EUROPE 

“Our business is 

education, so we try 

to facilitate the needs 

from academia, from 

the people who are 

teaching the classes 

to our students. 

This is our priority” 

— 

Daniel Milner Resel, 


Pedro Morcillo, Chief Information 

Officer and Daniel Milner Resel Chief 

Technology Officer are passionate 

about how digitisation has revolutionised 

the way students engage with its 

services. No longer content with 

traditional ways of working, students 

are demanding tools that not only 

provide greater flexibility, but encourage 

continuous improvement, both 

personally and professionally. It has 

even been predicted that the e-learning 

market worldwide will surpass 

US$243bn by 2022, something which 

Universidad Europea is keen to tap into. 

Responsible for unlocking advantages 

that digitisation can bring to 

Universidad Europea in Spain and 

Portugal, Morcillo and Milner Resel 

have looked to fully reshape the student 

experience. With universities in Madrid, 

Valencia and the Canary Islands, as well 

as offices in Lisbon and Porto, they have 

sought to close the gap between 

technology and academia. 

“Our business is education, from the 

people who are teaching the classes to 

our students. This is our priority. There 

are presently three major projects at 

Universidad Europea in relation to 

providing a better service. Firstly, 

there is a new design and host for 

227 



228 

“We have a simulated hospital. It is a ‘top 

of the class’ installation, unique in Spain 

in both technology and dimensions” 

— 




EUROPE 

our main webpage, which is now 

hosted on Google Cloud. Secondly, 

we have a medical images service, 

which is based on the integration of 

information services and the different 

devices which take medical images in 

our eight university clinics. Lastly, we 

have a simulated hospital. It is a ‘best 

in class’ installation, unique in Spain in 

both technology and dimensions,” 

explains Milner Resel. 

The possibilities Universidad Europea 

have uncovered through investing in 

technology are endless. Across its 

framework, its services have been 

fully disrupted, providing a number 

of advantages. 

“We have services licensed by our 

229 


Daniel Milner Resel 

Chief Technical Officer in Spain & Portugal, Daniel Milner 

Resel is redefining the utilisation of all IT services at Universidad 

Europea. Establishing a new regional framework as 

part of the unification of Spain and Portugal’s digital capabilities, 

he has a deep understanding the technological 

needs of the organisation, solving the gap between 

business and IT 



230 

corporation and where they are also the 

admin. We also have services licensed by 

the corporation at a regional level but we are 

the admins at a local level. Additionally, we 

have services where both things are at a local 

level – for example, SIS, Salesforce, Bullet, 

8x8 Call Centre, DNS’s, file servers, printers, 

WIFI, labs, audiovisuals and more.” By 

utilising tools provided by Microsoft, Cisco, 

Tenable and BitSight for 

its security services, as well as investing in 

its two data centres, Universidad Europea 

has also adopted Blackboard Learn software, 

a virtual Learning Management System 

(LMS) to provide further student support. 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘LEARNING COMMUNICATION WORKING 

AS A PROFESSIONAL’ 


EUROPE 

Most recently however, Universidad Europea 

has witnessed how the implementation of big 

data has created significant opportunities. 

The launch of its Business Intelligence (BI) 

Competency Centre, alongside IBM Cognos 

and Informatica ETL has seen the business 

gain a greater understanding of the large 

volumes of data under its portfolio. The use 

of automation is now another tool the team is 

keen to explore, where adopting technology 

based on Salesforce and 8x8 Call Center has 

enabled the organisation to look at further 

ways of transforming the student lifecycle. 

“With big data, it's a full transformation. 

Before undertaking this project, there was 

one key question that was put on the table – 

‘how many people nowadays are enrolled 

at our university? Marketing has one answer, 

sales has another and IT another, all of which 

are not the same. Big data has been a revolutionary 

approach, successfully led by the IT 

department,” notes Milner Resel. 

However, limited resources within the 

education sector remain a global issue. To 

bolster its resiliency and drive quality results, 

the organisation has utilised audio-visual 

technologies to promote collaboration. 

Implementing Lifesize to encourage the sharing 

of ideas, it is now Universidad Europea’s main 

tool for videoconferencing, as well as Skype 

for Business and Zoom. Its project with Smart– 

231 



232 

boards in the classroom is also 

expected to revolutionise student 

learning, where the implementation 

of Clevertouch 86 will work to 

deliver an immersive student 

experience within a digital classroom 

environment. Not only that, 

to further promote accessibility, 

Universidad Europea’s partnership 

with Chilean contractor Moofwd has 

led the development of a mobile app, 

powered by cloud technology. 

Educational services will continue 

to evolve, in which Milner Resel coins 

this ‘the third revolution.’ Students 

will gain knowledge and expertise 

through various platforms, where 

Universidad Europea will soon be 

taking this to the next stage and look 

at the long-term benefits of remote 

working across the organisation. 

“We have a lot of initiatives, where 

in the near future a great percentage 

of our work force is going to be 

working from home. It gives families 

flexibility, lowers utility bills at establishments 

and more. Here in Spain 

and Portugal, we are trying to get 

a more ambitious approach to this 

kind of work,” he says. 

Universidad Europea delivers edu– 


EUROPE 

233 

‘Students are demanding tools 

that not only provide greater 

flexibility, but ones that encourage 

continuous improvement, both 

personally and professionally’ 



234 

“We have a lot of 

initiatives, where in 

the near future a great 

percentage of our 

work force is going to 

be working from home” 

— 




EUROPE 

cation that is high quality, accessible 

and affordable, supporting 

students in all walks of life. Technology 

will become a key driver 

to unlock change, supporting the 

development of connections across 

its infrastructure to make a significant 

impact upon the lives of its 

students. Universidad Europea is 

committed to undertaking an 

ongoing digital journey, which will 

be key to its enduring success. 

235 


236 


EUROPE 

Fuelling rapid 

growth with 

an innovative 

procurement 


237 

WRIT TEN BY 

LAURA MULLAN 

PRODUCED BY 

RICHARD DURRANT 


UIPATH 

We speak to UiPath’s Head of 

Global Procurement, Catalin Lupu, 

to discover how a cutting-edge 

procurement transformation is 

helping to enable the firm’s 

exponential growth 

238 

It seems that when it comes to robotic 

processing automation (RPA), the name 

on everyone’s lips is UiPath. The American 

firm has achieved a lot in its short history. 

At its genesis, UiPath was just a team of 10 

based in Bucharest but now it’s headquartered 

in New York City, boasting 30 offices in 16 

countries and more than 1,700 employees. 

“‘Growth’ is the key word at the firm,” points 

out Catalin Lupu, Head of Global Procurement, 

and the technology community seems 

to agree. The firm was listed 26th on Deloitte’s 

Technology Fast 500 – a ranking of the crème 

de la crème in the technology, media, telecommunications, 

life sciences and energy tech 

companies in North America. In 2018 alone, 


EUROPE 

UiPath closed its Series B and Series 

C financing rounds totalling US$418mn, 

lifting the company’s valuation to an 

impressive $3bn. 

UiPath has, by all accounts, been 

a gleaming example of how to scale 

a tech startup and, for Lupu, this is 

thanks in part to the firm’s robust 

procurement function. Before joining 

UiPath, Lupu cut his teeth in procurement 

with time at firms like Renault 

and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber 

Company respectively. Through 

these roles, Lupu honed his skills 

and says that it provided him with 

a “global view” which enabled him 

to “understand the challenges and 

steps needed to scale up a business”. 

This proved to be a critical skill when 

he later moved to UiPath. 

UiPath began as a small startup 

239 

“‘Growth’ is 

the key word 

at the firm” 

— 

Catalin Lupu, 

Head of Global Procurement, UiPath 


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EUROPE 

with a procurement spend of around 

$2-3mn but CEO Daniel Dines had 

big ambitions. He wanted UiPath to 

be a market leader. To kick off this 

growth, the firm first had to convince 

the market of the merits of RPA and 

build a strategic roadmap. “We basically 

started from scratch,” explains Lupu. 

“I like to describe it like building a house. 

First of all, we laid the foundation. In 

procurement, we decided our policies, 

how we should buy, what architecture 

we should use, how the procurement 

function should look like in a year from 

now. That’s where it started.” UiPath 

didn’t think small; it crafted its roadmap 

with a global mindset from the offset. 

Rather than confining itself by regions, 

it standardised its procurement function 

at a global level. 

Compliance was also a crucial factor. 

“The policies are shaped around the 

business’ needs and compliance 

because when you’re working with 

clients like Fortune 500 firms, we 

wanted to make sure that everything is 

auditable, that they’re doing everything 

by the book. We also didn’t want 

to make it too difficult to manage or 

too granular for approvals so we 

implemented procurement cards.” Af- 

241 


UIPATH 

242 

ter laying the foundation, UiPath turned 

its attention to building the walls and the 

structure. For procurement, this meant 

implementing the systems. “We wanted 

everything to be digitalised so, for instance, 

we implemented procure-to-pay (P2P) and 

finance modules from Net Suite,” notes 

Lupu. “We wanted to drive the company 

forward, we wanted to automate and to 

liberate our people from repetitive stuff 

so that they could be more focused on 

strategic tasks like emailing a new supplier. 

It also enabled us to deliver analytics at 

a global level. I think that is the holy grail 

and it’s where a lot of companies struggle.” 

By implementing a cloud-based solution, 

this not only made the move from offline to 

digital seamless, it also allowed UiPath to 

get access to purchase orders (POs) on all 

devices – ideal for any global, fast-moving 

firm – which were easily integrated with 

other applications. 

A key task for any company, particularly 

in the IT sector, is attracting, retaining and 

training the right talent and it was another 

key facet in UiPath’s transformation story. 

“Bringing the right people is essential when 

scaling,” reflects Lupu. “We built up a culture 

and a team that’s ready to scale and that’s 

prepared for any challenges the clients may 

have. “They’re very focused on the client 


EUROPE 

243 


Catalin Lupu 

Catalin Lupu is Head of Global Procurement of UiPath. He spent 

all his career in Procurement covering global roles within the 

automotive industry. Catalin joined UiPath in 2017 with a clear 

mission to build up a global procurement organization for the 

first Romanian Unicorn. Passionate about Robotic Process 

Automation, which he considers a disruptive enterprise 

technology for Procurement, his new challenge is to scale 

and automate all procurement processes for UiPath. 


UIPATH 

244 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘UIPATH GO! – AUTOMATION MADE EASY’ 

needs, and internally it’s been quite 

a successful journey for them, because 

most of them come from different 

industries. We looked at their potential 

as well as their skills.” 

UiPath has quickly become synonymous 

with the RPA market, acquiring 

an average of six new customers per 

day. Yet, this rapid growth hasn’t come 

without its challenges. As the first 

footprint has expanded it had to establish 

new real estate, pay rolls and recruitment 

in different geographies. 

“Growth is a good problem to have,” 

laughs Lupu, “but it’s still a challenge.” 

To tackle this, UiPath’s 

procurement team have 

worked hard to develop 

strong industry links and 

vendor partnerships that 

are able to keep pace with 

the firm’s global vision. 

“We don’t see these firms as suppliers 

or vendors, they’re partners because 

when we try to go global, we need 

partners that will stick by us, who will 

insulate us, and be able to adapt to 

the market,” Lupu explains. Take the 

issue of real estate, highlights Lupu. 

With a footprint spanning from London 


EUROPE 

“Bringing in the 

right people 

is essential 

when scaling” 

— 

Catalin Lupu, 


to Tokyo, Bengaluru to Singapore, 

offices are a top priority for UiPath 

and therefore it has developed strong 

relationships to make this a reality. 

“We have a big spend on real-estate, 

so we have a very interesting and 

successful strategy,” he says. “When 

we enter a new country, we start off in 

co-working space so that we can 

create a presence there and start 

hiring. We have a global partnership 

with We Work, which provides a 

single point of contact for us globally, 

which is a robust model when you 

need a presence across the world.” 

UiPath has sought out partners 

which have an international presence 

yet local knowledge. It found this with 

24 


UIPATH 

246 

partner CDW who helped to enhance the 

firm’s IT management. “One of the challenges 

when growing globally is finding 

global partners who can meet this footprint 

and deliver what you need, whether it’s in 

Europe, the US, Asia or in India,” notes 

Lupu. “We found that CDW was one of the 

few in the market who could achieve this 

and helps us manage the IT span and delivery. 

They helped us centralise all the hardware 

that we were buying individually in countries 

by creating synergies. They understood that 

we needed a global single point of contact 

which is hands on.” 

As the role of procurement morphs 


EUROPE 

247 

rapidly into a business enabler, rather than 

a back-office function, it’s also getting more 

digitally-savvy. Just as its users have adopted 

UiPath’s RPA platform to take their business 

to the next level, UiPath’s procurement team 

are also using its own product. Lupu points 

out that, by getting robots to automate 

mundane and repetitive tasks, it allows his team 

to focus on value-adding jobs. “It automates 

repetitive work so people can focus on more 

strategic or creative jobs,” he explains. 

“RPA doesn’t only apply to procurement 

or finance. It can be applied to supply chain, 

it can be applied to delivery, call centres, 

banking, any industry that’s had repetitive 


UIPATH 

“We found that CDW 

was one of the few 

in the market who 

could help us 

manage the IT 

span and delivery” 

— 

Catalin Lupu, 


248 


EUROPE 

standardised processes which could be 

automated. That’s why I think it’s very disruptive, 

because it can apply to any industry.” 

Lupu believes the procurement sector is 

undergoing a seismic shift – teams are more 

focused on return on investment (ROI) rather 

than savings, the field is also becoming more 

digitised, and teams are being created based 

on ambition just as much as their skills. 

Having built its procurement function from 

the ground up, procurement has been a pivotal 

enable of UiPath’s growth and Lupu believes 

his strategy is a simple but meaningful one. 

“The main rule is that procurement needs to 

be smart, it needs to be simple and it needs 

to be scalable,” asserts Lupu. “Now, we have 

around 1,700 employees, next year we could 

have 10,000. I think the keyword now is still 

growth; we’re in skyrocket mode. Where there 

is an enterprise market, we need to be there. 

Our focus now is growing the business and 

to remain a leader in the RPA sector.” 

249 


Digital transformat 

to educate customers 

WRIT TEN BY 


PRODUCED BY 

JUSTIN BRAND 

250 


AFRICA 

ion 

251 


NEDBANK 

Nedbank has sought to educate customers 

in the application of new digital solutions, 

revolutionising the payment and transactional 

industry across South Africa 

252 

P 

resent in six countries in the 

Southern African Development 

Community (SADC) 

and East Africa, Nedbank’s vast portfolio 

has seen the business acquire 

subsidiaries and banks in Namibia, 

Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho 

and Zimbabwe, as well as representative 

offices in Angola and Kenya. 

Throughout its ongoing expansion, 

technology has continued to challenge 

traditional banking services, leading 

Nedbank to break down barriers, overhaul 

its processes and take a closer 

look at the way customers engage with 

its services. 

A chartered accountant by background, 

having audited a large number 

of automotive groups –such as BMW 

and Daimler – Dayalan Govender, 

Managing Executive of Nedbank Card, 

Payments and Transactional, entered 

the fast-evolving world of financial services 

with the aim to make a difference 

in an organisation that houses a strong 

passion for clients and embraces new 

ways of thinking. Appointed as Managing 

Executive in 2017, he has taken this 

objective further by seeking to reform 

the card and payments space and the 

transactional industry in South Africa, 

leveraging technologies and capabili- 


AFRICA 

ties in a fundamentally different way. 

“The first thing in our approach is, 

‘Delivering delightful client experiences 

and how do we transform not just our 

Nedbank Card, Payments and Transactional 

business but also the industry? 

How do we reshape the industry 

so that we are able to provide payment 

and transactional solutions to clients 

that fast, safe, reliable, convenient and 

cost effective all focused on enabling 

clients to achieve their goals and 

outcomes?’ That’s the first departure 

point that’s really important to us,” 

he explains. 

“We have two key challenges. One is 

around transforming the culture from 

an incremental mindset to an exponential 

disruptive mindset. The second is 

around digital adoption and education: 

once we get clients to start adopting 

these solutions, how do we ensure 

sustainability in digital adoption? What 

is accelerating digital adoption, not just 

in South Africa but globally, is that all 

253 


AFRICA 

“Behavioural biometrics is 

also something that we are 

exploring and believe it’s 

going to enhance customer 

experience” 

— 

Dayalan Govender, 


Payments and Transactional 

of us live in an increasingly digitised 

world and we are being influenced by 

digital solutions in our everyday lives. 

The proliferation of applications that 

exist satisfy many of our needs that 

we didn’t think possible. People are 

being influenced by digital in many 

aspects of their lives and we are at 

a point where clients expect this from 

financial services.” 

Trust is going to be a key requirement 

underpinning digital adoption. Within 

its Card, Payments and Transactional 

operations, Nedbank has therefore 

sought to invest in the latest authentication 

methods to bolster security 

across various digital applications to 

build trust and transparency. Investing 

in new fraud prevention mechanisms, 

Nedbank has gained increased awareness 

into fraudulent activity – something 

which has become a significant 

threat across South Africa and globally. 

“We are investing in tokenisation, 

enabling secure in store and online 

transactions. Behavioural biometrics 

is also something that we are exploring 

and believe it’s going to give clients 

a superior customer experience,” 

says Govender. 

Accelerating digital adoption will go 

hand in hand with building trust, which 

will no doubt feed into Nedbank’s ability 

to scale. However, despite such efforts, 

customers will only utilise smart 

255 


NEDBANK 

256 

payment solutions if they are somewhat 

intuitive, in order to remove the 

fear of the unknown and fully engage 

with new digital services. “Far too often, 

there’s a perception that digital is complex. 

Not everyone understands these 

digital solutions and they get paralysed 

when they experience a digital solution 

for the first time, so we have invested 

significantly in how we design these 

solutions with the client at the very 

heart of this,” he says, 

Since the bank launched the Nedbank 

Money app in 2018, the new digital 

platform has been met with acclaim 

by clients. Gaining significant traction 

with more than a million downloads, the 

app provides customers with financial 

access and services at the click of 

a button, fully empowering users and 

putting them in control of their finances. 

Harnessing a sophisticated design 

with ‘next level authentication’, the app 

enables customers to do a myriad of 

activities including viewing balances 

and statements, buy prepaid data and 

other value-added services, send money 

to a recipient or make payments to 

friends, family or providers. 

“Nedbank also launched scan to pay 


AFRICA 

257 


Tipping the scale 

on mobile payments 

By Mark Elliott, Division President, Mastercard Southern Africa 

The app economy has changed the way we live. We depend 

on our smartphone apps for everything from entertainment 

to photography, to messaging, personal productivity and 

ordering transport or accommodation. In South Africa, we’re 

increasingly using our smartphones for in-app, in-store and 

online payments. 

“The promise of mobile payment 

services lies in creating safer, 

richer experiences for consumers 

and merchants.” 

We’re also seeing merchants use apps that turn their 

smartphones into point of sale devices or use QR codes to 

accept mobile payments from their customers. The mobile 

device brings the convenience, safety and customer choice 

associated with cashless transactions to spaza shops, flea 

market stalls, trades people like plumbers and electricians, 

and other sectors where traditional card terminals are not a 

practical or affordable solution. 

Mobile innovations need to 

improve the consumer experience 

As we think about the rapid adoption of mobile payments, 

the promise of mobile payment services lies in creating safer, 

richer experiences for consumers and merchants. The key 

is not to simply recreate what you could do before, but to 

make paying for things simpler, safer and faster. That’s why 

connecting with consumers wherever they are and whenever 

they want is critical. 

Imagine, for example, a world where people don’t need to 

queue for hours to send money to their families in the rural 

areas or where no one needs to withdraw cash from an ATM 

and then stand in a long queue at a retailer on a Saturday 

to pay a rates bill. They don’t even need to log in to online 

banking and input a lot of payment information. Instead, 

they’ll be able to scan a QR code on the statement and pay 

from an app. This is a world where merchants don’t need 

to keep large amounts of cash on their premises. It’s one 

where consumers demand convenience and control, and 

expect payment experiences to make their lives better. 

We are not talking about a distant future, either. In South Africa, 

more than 900,000 ratepayers in the City of Ekurhuleni 

can pay their municipal bills online with their smartphones, 

using Masterpass, our global digital payment service. Masterpass 

is also accepted online by a growing list of merchants 

of all sizes as well as in-app for convenient air and 

data mobile top-up. 

Partnerships key to drive 

mass digital payment adoption 

The consumer experience is simple, but there is a lot of 

complexity in the background. Without collaboration across 

industries to ensure that digital payments systems are 

secure and interoperable, it will be impossible to deliver the 

experiences consumers demand or to scale mobile payments. 

That’s why we are collaborating with key players to develop 

and deliver new consumer propositions that span multiple 

industries across multiple channels – in-store, in-app and 

online. 

One example is the partnership between Mastercard and 

Entersekt to enable Nedbank’s customers to make QR payments 

to Masterpass, Pay@, SnapScan, and Zapper merchants 

and billers through the Nedbank Money app, whether 

they are paying online or at a physical point of presence. 

This market-first development means that Nedbank Money 

users need just one smartphone app for all major domestic 

scan-to-pay services, rather than needing to store card data 

in multiple apps, and they will be able to use biometrics as 

an authentication method. 

FIND OUT MORE: VISIT WWW.MASTERCARD.CO.ZA

AFRICA 

259 

within the Nedbank Money App which 

is the first banking app in the South Africa 

that allows clients to scan a Masterpass, 

Snapscan or Zapper QR code 

for making retail and utility payments. 

This is convenience at your fingertips 

that no longer requires clients to carry 

cards or cash. 

“A number of other services in the 

app are extremely popular, which debit 

order reversals are a prime example. 

In South Africa, we have an issue from 

a customer perspective around debit 

order abuse,” explains Govender. 

“Being able to give clients control over 

their debit orders, where they could 

go through their accounts, recognise 

a debit order to be fraudulent or inaccurate 

and be able to reverse that 

– this has been an extremely powerful 

service. Also, simple things like freezing 

and unfreezing cards are being 

used by customers all over the world, 

especially when travelling.” 

However, with such a diverse 

demographic, it has been imperative 

for Nedbank to ensure financial 

inclusion throughout the development 


NEDBANK 

260 

“Nedbank also launched 

Scan To Pay within the 

Nedbank Money App 

which is the first banking 

app in the South Africa 

that allows clients to scan 

a Masterpass, Snapscan 

or Zapper QR code for 

making retail and utility 

payments. This is 

convenience at your 

fingertips that no longer 

requires clients to carry 

cards or cash” 

— 





AFRICA 

of its banking applications. Based on 

USSD (unstructured supplementary 

service data) technology, Nedbank’s 

transactional product MobiMoney has 

also seen customers gain access to 

financial services via smartphone and 

feature phone, where they can deposit 

money into the account for free as well 

as send money to recipients for free. 

Other value-added services include 

purchasing prepaid electricity and 

more. “There have been examples of 

people wanting to buy prepaid electricity, 

they had to take transportation to 

get to a mall or vendor and it would 

cost them R60-80 to buy R100 worth 

of prepaid electricity. Now, it is at their 

fingertips and will cost next to nothing,” 

Govender adds. 

“We are solving problems that really 

matter to clients and address some 

of these key pain points. Through 

this particular platform we will build 

a lot more services that resonate with 

clients. It is also a free banking account 

that does not attract a monthly service 

fee.” 

Remaining aggressive in developing 

new digital tools and solutions for 

those in all walks of life, Nedbank is 

261 


Banking and Payment (r)evolution 

Banking and Payment services in Africa are experiencing a digital transformation, putting the customer 

experience at the core of innovations. New technologies such as ID verification and behavioral risk 

management will enrich banks customer engagement strategy. 

Behavioral Risk Management: Gemalto Assurance Hub employs AI to assess user behavior patterns 

and determine the potential for fraud. Anything out of the ordinary can be identified and additional 

authentication will be requested, to ensure maximum security. 

ID verification: Gemalto’s ID verification solution enables financial institutions to deploy a fast and 

compliant identity verification. Customers can self-enroll to online banking services by simply submitting 

a scan of their ID along with a selfie to facilitate secure, real-time enrolment. 

TO LEARN MORE VISIT GEMALTO.COM 

© Gemalto 2018. All rights reserved. Gemalto, the Gemalto logo, are trademarks and service marks of Gemalto and are registered in certain countries. November 2018 - CC 

IN AN INCREASINGLY CONNECTED SOCIETY GEMALTO IS THE LEADER IN MAKING 

DIGITAL INTERACTIONS SECURE AND EASY. LEARN MORE AT GEMALTO.COM

AFRICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND THE OBVIOUS’ 

263 

also set to launch a solution that is 

tailored to the student customer that 

will be truly disruptive and be the first of 

its kind in South Africa, as well as offer 

entrepreneurs with the tools and skills 

that they need to succeed. 

Fully supporting customers beyond 

traditional banking services, Nedbank’s 

partnership with Hey Jude has even 

seen the bank integrate a new lifestyle 

solution into the Nedbank Money app 

for ease and simplicity. The solution 

works to enable customers to book 

travel services, obtain support for finding 

various services, and much more. 

“From travel to household requirements, 

the app will find you a service 

provider that meets your needs and is 

testament to the focus on client experience 

and enabling client outcomes,” 

notes Govender. 

However, with the rise of hyperpersonalised 

services, data will become 

a key differentiator in delivering relevant 

services to clients including merchants. 

Nedbank’s end-to-end business management 

solution, POSplus, provides 

advanced data analytics and enhances 

a business’ presence not only in ecommerce, 

but to gain a significant growth 


NEDBANK 

264 

in the physical environment. “This 

innovation and solution allows business 

and business owners; especially 

small business services and entrepreneurs 

to focus more on growing and 

running their business, as opposed to 

managing multiple vendors and other 

distractions within their environment.” 

Successfully reaching R125bn 

(US$8.8bn) market capitalisation 

throughout its operations is no easy 

feat, but building strong partnerships 

has remained key to Nedbank’s 

upward trajectory in supporting 8mn 

clients across Africa and beyond. Recently, 

the bank’s alliance with pan-African 

banking conglomerate Ecobank 

Transnational Inc has seen Nedbank 

cater to the growing for cross border 

remittance solutions in Africa. 

Additionally, by effectively embracing 

collaboration to bring solutions 

to life, Nedbank’s partnership with 

FEXCO has seen the business harness 

its global, dynamic currency conversion 

solution for customers visiting 

South Africa, and pay for services in 

their home currency. “We’ve leveraged 

FEXCO’s expertise and capability, 

which gives our merchants the ability 


AFRICA 

265 


Building 

Borderless 

Business 

Fexco are proud to partner with Nedbank to 

provide Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) 

and Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP). 

Read more online 

For more information, contact: 

Gavin O’ Sullivan | Fexco Country Manager - South Africa | Tel: +27 66 478 9450 | Email: gavosullivan@fexco.com

AFRICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘“SEE MONEY DIFFERENTLY” 

WITH NEDBANK | 90” TVC’ 

267 

to offer tourists coming to South Africa 

a value-add by paying in their home 

currency, where they don’t have to experience 

the volatility in the currency or 

the exchange rate,” explains Govender. 

Long term, looking at the future of 

Nedbank and its position in South Africa, 

Govender believes a flood of new 

opportunities are set to be unlocked 

as the country undergoes significant 

regulatory change. The Financial Sector 

Conduct Authority and Prudential 

Authority are set to be located in the 

South African Reserve Bank (SARB), 

which will provide jurisdiction over all 

financial institutions. This, he explains, 

will enable the ongoing transformation 

of financial services and the delivery of 

further advantages in terms of interacting, 

servicing as well as delivering 

innovative value propositions. 

“Enabling regulations are going to be 

key in achieving the reserve bank’s vision 

for 2025 which is tackling some of 

the social issues that we have in South 

Africa,” he says. 

“The move could also unlock trade, 

growth and create employment. The in- 


5705 Wetpaint 

There’s an operational resilience associated with strong partnerships. It’s the 

resilience that comes from sharing a vision of the future and an 

understanding of the past. That is why, while we innovate on the ever-shifting 

technological forefront, iVeri Payment Technologies has always been 

committed to the solidity of partnerships. 

Specialising in providing cutting-edge multichannel transaction technologies 

in the context of developing economies, iVeri has been a preferred payment 

partner of banks for two decades. Built on consistency and reliability, it is a 

partnership that has led to mutual success and long-term growth. 

Active in 12 countries and internationally certified, choose iVeri Payment 

Technologies as your payment gateway partner. 

Mobile | eCommerce | PoS | API 

+27 11 269 4000 | www.iveri.com | sales@iveri.com

AFRICA 

269 

formal sector in South Africa facilitates 

huge amounts of economic activity but 

it’s fundamentally based on cash. How 

do we, through regulation, also go and 

solve facilitating trade and entrepreneurship? 

That’s where we’re going to 

see a significant amount of transformation 

take place over the coming years 

in South Africa.” 

Housing an exponential and disruptive 

mindset, Nedbank has transformed 

its capabilities to deliver solutions 

that are convenient, secure and scalable. 

With Govender certain that the 

finance industry in South Africa will 

become wholly digitally led, data will 

support decision making and provide 

key insights into the way customers 

engage beyond banking services, as 

well as provide essential insights which 


NEDBANK 

270 


AFRICA 

“We are solving 

problems that really 

matter to clients and 

helping address 

some of these key 

pain points” 

— 




will fundamentally change the way 

in which financial institutions design 

and bring solutions to market. Fully 

revolutionising its corporate culture to 

think more innovatively and client centered, 

as well as adapt a commercially 

savvy mindset, Nedbank will continue 

to place significant investment in its 

people and new exponential technologies 

to take banking services in South 

Africa into a whole new era. 

271 


272 

Resolving digital 


challenges with 

CIO Ayanda Saki 

WRIT TEN BY 

LAURA MULLAN 

PRODUCED BY 

MALVERN KANDEMWA 


AFRICA 

273 


CIO — AYANDA SAKI 

CIO Ayanda Saki weighs in on 

some of the top challenges 

and opportunities facing 

technology executives today 

274 

A 

s more CIOs take the first 

tentative steps on their digital 

transformation journeys, 

many are turning to seasoned professionals 

for guidance. With over 20 

years of experience in the technology 

sector, Ayanda Saki, now CIO at a leading 

African automotive parts company, 

is a fountain of wisdom. For Saki, her 

technology career began after she obtained 

her Computer Science degree, 

which allowed her to gain a true understanding 

of technological innovation. 

Later, before cutting her teeth in the 

sector, Saki completed a Master’s Degree 

in Business Administration (MBA). 

She credits this educational experience 

with affording her the necessary 

insight to distinguish between technology 

for technology’s sake in comparison 

to technology which enables true 

business value. 


AFRICA 

275 


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“It doesn’t make sense 

to have a technical 

understanding of 

technology without 

having the necessary 

business acumen” 

— 

Ayanda Saki, 


278 

BUSINESS PROWESS 

“I realised that it didn’t make sense 

to have a technical understanding of 

technology without having the necessary 

business acumen to understand 

how these can help businesses generate 

revenue or enable strategies,” 

she recalls. By understanding how 

the business works as well as what it 

hopes to achieve, Saki has been able 

to align her digital strategies to meet 

these needs, whilst remaining laser 

focused on the people involved. 

“Throughout my career, I made 

sure I understood the businesses, how 

it worked and what it was trying to 

achieve, then aligned the technology 

as much as possible to that,” she says. 

“Technology shouldn’t be implemented 

for the sake of it. Technology should 

be used to improve the quality of life of 

people and to enable business value. 

I think this perspective has created 

a good foundation for where I am today.” 

This business insight has put her in 

good stead in the technology sector. 

Whilst Saki may have an impressive understanding 

of technology – spanning 


AFRICA 

everything from software engineering 

to business intelligence – she says that, 

more than anything, it’s vital executives 

recognise that the customer is king. 

“In recent years, the biggest change 

has been that the power is now in the 

hands of the customer. The customer 

now decides how they want to buy, 

who they want to buy from, and when 

they want to buy products and services.” 

As the on demand economy takes 

off and more and more devices are at 

consumers’ fingertips, this challenge is 

only set to amplify. Mobile phone ownership 

is racing ahead in South Africa 

and across the continent. This not only 

279 


Ayanda Saki 

Ayanda Saki is an entrepreneurial, seasoned business and 

IT strategist, who is currently Chief Information Officer at 

Motus Aftermarket Parts. Prior to this role, she worked at 

firms such as Standard Bank, the National Research Foundation, 

HSBC Investment Services and The Foschini Retail 

Group. Throughout her career, she has led and prudently 

managed projects and departments with budgets of up to 

ZAR70mn (USD$4.86mn). Her specialties include ICT and 

business strategy, leadership, governance, portfolio and 

programme management, as well as value creation. 



serves as a communication device but 

also as a cost-effective channel to get 

online, which has provided companies 

with the opportunity to interact with 

customers like never before. “Africa is 

very mobile focused and this creates 

an opportunity for us to provide an 

economic type of architecture for our 

customers,” comments Saki. “It’s required 

us to adjust our thinking and to 

align ourselves with how the customer 

interacts with us.” 

“Technology shouldn’t 

be implemented 

for the sake of it. 

Technology should 

be used to improve 

the quality of people’s 

lives and to enable 

businesses value” 

— 

Ayanda Saki, 


280 

THE CUSTOMER IS KING 

Not only should CIOs pay heed to their 

customers’ wants and needs, but they 

should also be aware of their location. 

Digital transformation isn’t ‘one 

size fits all’, and therefore companies 

should be wary of copying and pasting 

their business strategies into new 

locations. The key, Saki highlights, is 

to adapt to each location. 

“In Africa, many of the companies 

are multinational companies and when 

they’ve entered this market, they’ve 

taken the same template of their business 

from international markets and 

applied it here which doesn’t work. For 

an African market, the way a business 


AFRICA 

sells to its customers has to be different 

as their buying power is different, 

and the way they interact with the 

market has to be different. Many are 

entrepreneurial businesses and they 

typically have less access to technology. 

It requires a shift in thinking.” 

Saki cites Unilever’s entry into the 

rural Indian market as a relevant case 

study to parallel. After conducting indepth 

research, the firm calculated the 

buying power of an average woman in 

India and worked out how they could 

effectively sell to this market. “For 

instance, many consumers didn’t have 

the buying power to purchase a 100ml 

bottle of body lotion so following the 

study Unilever launched smaller sized 

sachets of body lotion which were more 

affordable and which allowed the company 

to penetrate the market further,” 

she explains. “I think the same mindset 

needs to be applied in Africa.” 

281 

CONVENIENCE IS CRUCIAL 

The success of firms like Amazon, 

Deliveroo, Uber and others only goes 

to show that convenience sells. 

This is a sentiment echoed by Saki 

who contends that as more and more 



businesses go digital, convenience will be 

the differentiating factor. “We’re seeing that 

the companies which are succeeding in 

digitisation are companies which create 

convenience that goes over and above just 

buying a product,” Saki reflects. “The better 

the customer experience, the more chance 

of customers coming back time and time 

again.” Data analytics, cloud computing and 

other emerging technologies could play 

a key role in helping companies realise this 

goal, Saki notes. 

282 

TACKLING THE SKILLS GAP 

One of the most pressing challenges facing 

the technology sector is undoubtedly the 

widening skills gap in the market. In a world 

where today’s graduates have grown up with 

the internet, tablets and mobile devices, Saki 

said that young people already have an inherent 

understanding of IT, what recruiters need 

to watch out for is those who can take this 

understanding and do something new with it. 

Additionally, she believes there needs to be 

a cultural shift that encourages young people 

to enter more corporate environments. 

“I believe there’s so much value in combining 

how older and younger people think, especially 

as we move towards a more digital future,” 

she observes. “We need to make a lot of 


AFRICA 

283 


CIO – AYANDA SAKI 

“From the very beginning it 

was really hard to be taken 

seriously as a woman… 

Even if you said something 

that had value, you had 

to say it a number of times, 

justify it a million times 

more, and sometimes even 

demonstrate it for you to 

be taken seriously” 

— 

Ayanda Saki, 


284 

JANUARY 2018

AFRICA 

changes to absorb this new talent into the 

technology landscape.” 

Creating an inclusive environment could also 

help. Having studied in apartheid times in South 

Africa, as well as being a woman in the technology 

field, Saki is all too aware of the hurdles 

facing workers trying to make their mark on the 

technology sector. “From the very beginning it 

was really hard to be taken seriously as a woman,” 

she reflects. “Even if you said something that 

had value, you had to say it a number of times, 

justify it a million times more, and sometimes 

even demonstrate it for you to be taken seriously. 

“I think what helped me was that if I feel an 

issue is important, I’ll create a prototype of the 

suggestion which allowed me to demonstrate 

my ideas clearly.” On top of this, there’s also the 

issue of work culture. In the corporate world, 

where competing egos are commonplace, Saki 

is keen to point out the importance of remaining 

humble, particularly when you’re in a leadership 

position. In doing so, she says CIOs can create 

an approachable and inclusive IT environment 

that works with, not in tangent, to the wider business 

operation. “I try to keep myself humble and 

approachable,” she says. “It’s important to be able 

to explain technology in a way that makes sense 

to businesses so that they can really comprehend 

how IT can benefit the organisation.” 

285 


ABC GROUP: DIGITAL 

286 


FOR THE LEBANESE 

WRIT TEN BY 

DALE BENTON 

PRODUCED BY 

CRAIG DANIELS 

SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 


MIDDLE EAST 

287 


ABC 

AMID A TECHNOLOGY 

TRANSFORMATION PLAN, 

ELIE HARB, HEAD OF IT 

AT ABC, TALKS DIGITAL 

DISRUPTION IN LEBANON 

288 

T 

echnology has completely redefined the 

modern world and the modern customer. 

As innovation drives change, businesses 

across the globe have to adapt and evolve in order 

to continue to meet and ultimately exceed changing 

customer expectations. As one of the premier 

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understanding this evolving customer and the role 

that technology has and continues to play in that 

shifting landscape is more important than ever 

before for ABC. 

As the first retailer to open in the country since 

1936, ABC Group combines world-class shopping 

dining and entertainment across six branches and 

three flagship stores throughout Lebanon. The 

company prides itself on one critical component 

– innovation – and it strives to deliver on this through 

outstanding customer experience. “At ABC our 

purpose is to make Lebanon a better place and we 

do that by creating a great social hub offering the 

best brand mix and outstanding customer experience,” 

says Elie Harb, Head of IT & PMO. “ABC 

raises the bar very high when it comes to customer 


MIDDLE EAST 

289 


Your technology Partner 

for a great customer 

ex p er ience 

www.bmbgroup.com 

Egypt, KSA, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon 

service, creating an unprecedented 

environment where we and our cust– 

omers are part of one family. Our CSR 

activities and environmental initiatives 

are unique in the country and set an 

example for the competition and our 

population alike.” 

Over the last five years, Harb has 

overseen a major digital transformation 

of ABC as the company continues to 

stay at the forefront of innovation and 

technology. With a career in IT spanning 

over 18 years, Harb has seen the role 

of IT and that of the CIO shift dramatically, 

moving away from the traditional 

support function and becoming a 

business enabler. “IT is now becoming 

more and more of a business driver 

pushing the boundaries of possibility 

for ABC to the max,” he says. “The CIO 

has assumed a prominent place in the 

strategic thinking of the business, not 

simply enabling and supporting 

other members of the C-suite to 

achieve their vision, but rather 

actively setting the agenda 

for the future of the digital 

enterprise. His role isn’t 

limited to just keeping the 

system running and 

updated (while that 

is obviously still 


MIDDLE EAST 

“ABC raises the bar 

very high when it 

comes to customer 

service, creating an 

unprecedented 

environment where 

we and our customers 

are part of one family” 

— 

Elie Harb, 

Head of IT and PMO, ABC 

important), but he became an agent of 

change and innovation.” 

As Head of IT, Harb is a key driver of 

the digital transformation and looks to 

steer the company towards understanding 

how best to capitalise on the 

technologies on hand in order to optimise 

and automate business processes, 

enhance customer experience and 

improve productivity, all the while keeping 

a stable, updated and secure 

platform. Harb admits that as technology 

continues to evolve, the company 

must be agile in its approach to trans– 

formation and so it breaks down its 

transformation roadmap into three year 

plans that are renewed at the end of 

291 


ABC 

292 

each period. This, Harb explains, allows 

the company to continuously assess 

its position on the edge of technology 

to remain the leader in the market. 

ABC has defined its priorities for its 

digital transformation based on four 

pillars: enabling state-of-the-art customer 

experience, business enhancement and 

innovation; productivity increase and 

automation; infrastructure and stability. 

Throughout this journey, Harb can 

already point to key successes where 

technology has enabled true innovation 

and efficiency for the business. 

“Looking at customer experience, we 

built the best loyalty program in the 

country and we became the first fashion 

retailer to implement a call centre as 

well as a 3D virtual reality way finding and 

mobile point of sale systems,” he says. 

“We were also the first to implement an 

intuitive business intelligence system with 

predictive analysis and machine learning. 

We’ve also optimised the buyers’ work by 

adding merchandise planning systems as 

well as opening our recruitment possibilities 

by adding an online recruitment system.” 

With technology comes the risk of always 

turning to technology for the sake of following 

industry trends rather than enabling true 

value for the business and return of 


MIDDLE EAST 

293 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘ABC OF LEADERSHIP’ 


ABC 

294 

investment (ROI). Harb is all too aware 

of this and recognises that while ABC 

is an early adopter, it does not follow 

blindly. “We pick and choose based on 

extensive vetting and we don’t let 

ourselves be impressed by ‘big 

words’,” he says. “Some trends have 

had a major impact on the retail 

industry, such as omnichannel retail 

which is causing major disruption, while 

others are still to show their worthiness. 

It falls to us to use our better judgment 

and expertise in the field in order to 

adopt the best solution possible and 

follow the route that will have a positive 

impact on our business.” 

To this end, ABC will vet technology 

both internally and externally through 

the use of technology vendors and filter 

innovation and solutions through variable 

committees like the company’s Customer 

Experience Committee (CEC). “The CEC 

or the steering committee will analyse 

the business impact and the ROI both 

locally and globally,” says Harb. “Once 

approved, we then proceed with a final 

round of validation in order to ensure 

there are no hidden costs or impacts 

and that it fits exactly to our needs.” 

Ultimately, those needs revolve around 

the customer and their experience. Harb 

“We were the first 

to implement an 

intuitive business 

intelligence system 

with predictive 

analysis and 

machine learning” 

— 

Elie Harb, 



MIDDLE EAST 

notes that technology has opened up 

greater communications and visibility with 

its customers, something that he feels is an 

edge that no other retailers can offer. This 

is best exemplified through its mobile 

application. “Our mobile app ensures that 

our customers are always connected and 

informed about what we are doing for them,” 

he says. “It gives the customer full control 

over their loyalty points to redeem at any 

time without the need of physical interaction.” 

This loyalty scheme was extended to all 

shops within ABC’s department stores and 

malls, which vastly improved customer satis– 


295 

Elie Harb 

An experienced IT professional, with more than 18 years working in the 

technology space, Elie Harb is currently the IT and Project Management 

Officer at ABC Sal. In this role, Harb is tasked with keeping ABC Sal at the 

forefront of innovation and technology, having overseen 

a major companywide digital transformation based on four pillars: 

enabling state of the art customer experiences, business enhancements 

and innovations; productivity increase and automation; 

infrastructure and stability. Harb is a key driver of the digital 

transformation and looks to steer the company towards understanding 

how best to capitalise on the technologies on hand in 

order to optimise and automate business processes, enhance 

customer experience and improve productivity, all the while 

keeping a stable, updated and secure platform. 


ABC 

296 


MIDDLE EAST 

faction. The company also became the first retailer 

to implement mobile POS within its malls to 

drastically reduce queues and allow for fast checkout 

during high seasons. “We also have digital 

signage, our VR way finding systems and free Wi-Fi. 

Combine all of our digital initiatives and we have 

created an incredibly unique customer experience 

that cannot be matched by other malls.” 

For more than 75 years, ABC has strategically 

invested into technology in order to cement its position 

as the leading retailer in the market. Investing in 

technology is important, but Harb understands that 

the true enabler for ABC’s success today and 

tomorrow is its people. “At ABC, we believe that our 

greatest asset is our employees,” he says. “ABC takes 

employee development very seriously and makes it 

a high priority. Part of this development is participating 

in seminars, expos and developmental courses in 

each field. We’ve established an internal training 

academy and created programs specific for retail and 

our way of business and enrolled key people 

in them. We also built a talent academy to retain, 

motivate and promote talents.” 

ABC’s investment into its people matches that of 

its investment into technology. It has and will continue 

to prove key in enabling opportunities and 

growth into the future. “We will continue to invest in 

innovation, technology and people,” says Harb. 

“We’ll do this to keep them updated and to not allow 

them to become obsolete or lose the investment 

placed in them and to continue to be the retailer of 

297 


ABC 

298 

“We will continue to invest 

in innovation, technology 

and people” 

— 

Elie Harb, 



MIDDLE EAST 

choice in the country.” 

The future is bright for ABC. The company 

has already begun to make inroads into 

ecommerce and omnichannel that will be 

launched in 2019 and is also in advanced 

negotiations with some major brands to 

represent them in the country. 

As Harb looks to that future, he can reflect on 

the digital journey of ABC and the lessons 

learned along the way. “It has been a challenging 

and interesting journey. The main take away 

would be to always challenge the status quo, 

build on solid ground by choosing the right 

partners, technologies and peoples and always 

be on the watch for disruptive technologies or 

market shifts. Internal communication, openness 

and team work are also key in any venture. 

“From our past experience, we believe that 

constant evolution by pushing our limits and 

boundaries, market and trends awareness, 

employee development and most importantly 

customer satisfaction are the main 

pillars to achieve business success.” 

299 


300 


HEALTHCARE 

Navigating digital 

transformation in 

Saudi Arabia with 

Fakeeh Healthcare 

WRIT TEN BY 


PRODUCED BY 

CRAIG DANIELS 

301 


FAKEEH HEALTHCARE 

302 

Executive Vice 

President of Fakeeh 

and Chairman of 

Kameda Arabia, 

Sanjay Shah, 

discusses how his 

group is embracing 

new technology 

systems amid rapid 

change across 

Saudi Arabia 

I 

n an era of technological 

change, it has become vital 

for all companies to innovate 

in order to stay ahead of their rivals. In 

a country driven by transformation, 

Fakeeh Healthcare has been a pioneer 

in the healthcare industry in Saudi 

Arabia. Since it was founded by Dr. 

Soliman Fakeeh in Jeddah in 1978, 

Fakeeh has experienced two major 

expansions in the form of the 1986 

inauguration by King Fahd bin Abd 

al-Aziz, which saw the facility’s inpatient 

capacity increased, and the addition 

of two new structures to the Fakeeh 


MIDDLE EAST 

303 

Hospital campus in 1999. Executive 

Vice President of Fakeeh, Sanjay Shah, 

believes that its Fakeeh’s willingness to 

improve its services consistently that 

has acted as a catalyst for this success. 

“Fakeeh’s journey began with the current 

president’s father, the late Dr. 

Solomon Fakeeh, and he was really 

the key reason for the company’s early 

success,” says Shah. “That tradition 

has carried over with under his son’s 

leadership and completely changed 

the face and the path of Fakeeh. We 

have increased the visibility, penetra- 



304 


MIDDLE EAST 

tion, pioneering to become leading 

edge. We’re very proud of our legacy 

and heritage and we want to continue 

that as much as we can.” 

CONFORMING TO THE SAUDI VISION 2030 

Shah draws on Fakeeh’s determination 

to help improve lives as a key reason it 

has achieved such significant success. 

“We are all about transforming lives,” he 

notes. “Fakeeh is known in the market 

for its clinical excellence and compassionate 

care. One of the most important 

attributes is that it believes in health edu– 

cation and that remains the real differentiating 

factor from our competitors.” 

As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 

looks to diversify its reliance on oil and 

seeks to develop public services such 

as education and health, it remains vital 

that all companies align themselves to 

the Saudi Vision 2030. Shah believes 

that Fakeeh are taking its contribution 

to it very seriously. “We’re incumbent 

on developing the 2030 plan and 

improving the wellbeing of the populations 

of Saudi. We take the primary 

care element very seriously and it’s 

a very important part of the vision for 

2030,” says Shah. “Developing private 

medicine and transferring some of the 

305 



assets perpetually from public to private 

ownership or operation is a very 

important element and we want to 

participate in that,” he adds. “We 

really want to be the cornerstone of 

this vision. We welcome and encourage 

it and we look forward to playing 

a significant part in this exciting 

transformation for the Kingdom.” 

EMBRACING NEW 

TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 

In order to keep up with the latest 

technology trends, Fakeeh has 

introduced a new hospital information 

system called Yasasii, which was 

formed out of a joint collaboration 

between an Indian and Japanese 

software house. The system, which 

utilises all aspects of a healthcare 

institution, ensures healthcare professionals 

can monitor the functioning and 

management of all departments while 

also increasing Return On Investment 

(ROI) for the company and saving lives. 

“We are seeing the whole industry 

embrace disruptive technology at an 

increased rate,” explains Shah. 

Transforming Care 

Infant Protection and Staff Duress 

Contact our MEA office today at 

stanleyhealthcare-mea@sbdinc.com 

©2018 STANLEY Healthcare. DOC-23-00120-AA

MIDDLE EAST 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘FAKEEH SMART HOSPITAL’ 

307 

“We’re incumbent on 

developing the 2030 

plan and improving 

the wellbeing of the 

Saudi population. 

We take the primary 

care element very 

seriously and it’s 

a very important part 

of the vision for 2030” 

— 

Sanjay Shah, 

Executive Vice President, Fakeeh Care 

“Fakeeh’s focus is to make technology 

a true enabler. It’s about patient care 

from the outset and returning patients 

safely back into the community and 

into their homes. We want our tools 

to embed the best practices that are 

beginning to come to market and we 

want to utilise machine learning and 

artificial intelligence in order to enable 

faster access and reach the best 

outcomes for patients and improving 

patient safety.” 

As the only standalone primary care 

location in the Gulf Cooperation Council 

to be awarded a HIMSS 6 certificate 



308 

(a significant milestone for professional 

development of knowledge in the field), 

Shah credits Fakeeh’s technology 

platform as key to his significant 

achievement. “It’s a very big accolade for 

our technology platform which I believe 

is one of the most superb platforms I 

have come across,” affirms Shah. “It’s 

helped decision making for all members 

within the care community, whether 

that be a physician, pharmacist or nurse, 

from management information all the way 

through to complete technician support. 

We have a very powerful platform and we 

want to grow that as much as possible.” 

With technology becoming increasingly 

vital to Fakeeh and its patients, Shah 

believes that the implementation of the 

company’s new digital tools has allowed 

the firm to provide its hospitals with the 

latest innovations. “We are using the 

latest technology tools in our smart 

hospitals to provide the latest technology 

for a superior hospital experience, 

similar to a luxury hotel. We have also 

set up an offshore regional research 

hub in southern India to enable smarter 

and automated techniques,” explains 

Shah. “We have already introduced 

robotics in some of our operation 

departments in order to remove low 


MIDDLE EAST 

309 


Sanjay Shah 

A Board Member & Executive Vice President at Fakeeh 

since 2015, Shah has overseen the development of the 

state-of-the-art 260 bedded hospital, rehab and academic 

medical centre in partnership with University College of 

London Hospital in Dubai. The projects Shah is currently 

working on include eight Family Medical Centres in Saudi 

Arabia and UAE, diabetes and urgent care centres in 

Jeddah and Dubai, and Surgical Tower. 



“We are using the latest technology 

tools in our smart hospitals to provide 

a superior experience, similar to 

a luxury hotel” 

— 

Sanjay Shah, 

Executive Vice President, Fakeeh Care 

310 

end tasks and we will continue to invest 

in this technology. We see technology 

giving us a special advantage over 

our competitors and see this as our 

core competency.” 

Looking to the future, Fakeeh plans 

to diversify the business by developing 


MIDDLE EAST 

a hospital and medical university in 

Dubai Silicon Oasis in a bid to establish 

the brand in the United Arab Emirates. 

Shah believes that new facilities such 

as this are key to the future growth 

and development of Fakeeh. “It’s a 

very important facility,” he says. “We 

are going to have a helicopter pad in 

order to cater for trauma patients. 

We’re trying to provide to a market 

which is going to be very distinctive 

and must deal with trauma cases, 

centers of excellence, such as neurosurgery, 

cardiac, cardio-thoracic, spine 

surgery, orthopedics, oncology and 

ENT. It’s a very unique set up and its 

one of a kind with nothing similar 

currently available in Dubai.” 

311 


MERCEDES-BENZ BRASIL 

312 

Reinventing 

the automotive 

industry 

WRIT TEN BY 

MARÍA COBANO-CONDE 

PRODUCED BY 

MANUEL NAVARRO 


LATIN AMERICA 

313 



Mauricio Mazza, CIO at 

Mercedes-Benz Brazil, 

offers the keys to Daimler’s 

digital transformation 

through innovation, sustainability 

and employees 

314 

D 

aimler AG belongs to that select 

group of companies that has had 

the privilege of forging history. 

The history of the automobile began in 1886 

with Daimler’s first motor carriage and Carl 

Benz’s three-wheeled vehicle. 

Since then, Daimler has been synonymous 

with tradition, quality and innovation. 

This stamp is printed in its five divisions: 

Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, 

Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and 

Daimler Financial Services. 

Mauricio Mazza, CIO at Mercedes-Benz 

Brazil, one of the companies of Daimler AG, 

explains the great responsibility of the 

company in Brazil as the leader in innovation 

in the automotive industry. 


LATIN AMERICA 

315 



316 

THE BASIS FOR THE FUTURE, IN THE 

CULTURE SHIFT 

Daimler founded its Brazilian production 

plant in 1956, in the city of São Bernardo 

do Campo (São Paulo). It was one of the 

first automotive manufacturing companies 

that decided to start operations in 

the country, thanks to the opportunities 

in the truck manufacturing market. 

Mazza begins: “The community had 

a strong participation in making this 

possible, as we covered the heavy 

need for transportation through trucks 

and buses to move people and goods 

“As a company, 

Daimler has 

confidence that 

our history and 

our culture are 

strong assets that 

we have to use” 

— 

Mauricio Mazza, 

CIO at Mercedes-Benz Brasil 


LATIN AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘MERCEDES-BENZ MUSEUM: 

AWAKEN YOUR INNER CHILD’ 

317 

around. I think the company has very 

strong ties with Brazil and what makes 

us unique, besides this strong link, is 

that we have a very broad portfolio of 

products that has, in many ways, adapted 

to the Brazilian reality.” 

“We also have dense penetration 

in the different logistics areas in the 

country: transportation for retail, 

for agribusiness, for oil and gas, for 

chemicals and for several different 

types of industries is essential. That 

has positioned us uniquely in terms 

of knowledge of the market, relationships 

with key players as well as the 

culture, that allows us to continue 

growing while being relevant for the 

economy of Brazil,” Mazza analyses 

about the beginnings in Brazil. 

From this strong market position, 

Daimler is going through a deep cultural 

change in its strategy and internal 

culture. That change, of course, is 

based on innovation. “We always had 

a very strong culture of innovation; 

I think this is something that in the DNA 

of Daimler, ever since the founding of 

the company. We always had strong 

engineering departments here in Brazil 

particularly; it was something very 


LATIN AMERICA 

important in the company, and we live 

up to those standard.” 

“It’s not innovation per se and alone, 

but innovation applied to the business 

that moves into efficiency. We 

have the recognition mechanics, the 

support from specific departments 

and from the whole board on really 

developing innovative solutions that 

don’t necessarily need to be big and 

expensive. It does not matter if it is 

a small detail on the shop floor or the 

big investments that we are deploying 

to redesign our plant. We believe that 

every innovation is important and 

that it belongs to everybody. All the 

employees in the company.” 

INNOVATION IN MANUFACTURING 

ENGINEERING 

As Mazza states, innovation at all levels 

is the key to Daimler’s transformation 

in Brazil: “We have been making a huge 

investment for the last two years in 


Mauricio Mazza graduated in Mechatronics Engineering in 1999 

from the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. 

319 

For over 16 years Mauricio has worked as a consultant, helping clients 

through the challenges of business and technology innovation, 

enabling them to become more relevant and valuable. 

Whilst always valuing and respecting everyone’s insight — 

client or colleague, analyst or VP — Mauricio’s down-to-earth 

yet empowered approach allows him to contribute at both 

operational and executive levels, building relationships 

rooted in credibility and trust. 

Mauricio developed his skills serving different 

clients, industries and cultures, with over three 

years of international experience working in 

the US and Europe, besides multiple 

locations within Brazil. 



320 


LATIN AMERICA 

COMPANY FACTS 

• Daimler divisions are 

Mercedes-Benz Cars, 

Daimler Trucks, Mercedes- 

Benz Vans, Daimler Buses 

and Daimler Financial 

Services 

• In 2017, the Group 

sold around 3.3 million 

vehicles and employed 

a workforce of more 

than 289,300 people in 

the world 

• The history of the 

automobile began in 1886 

with Daimler’s first motor 

carriage and Carl Benz’s 

three-wheeled vehicle 

321 

• Daimler sells its vehicles 

and services in nearly 

all the countries of the 

world and has production 

facilities in Europe, 

North and South America, 

Asia, and Africa 

• In 2017, Daimler 

generated €164,330mn 

in revenue 



322 

redesigning and rebuilding our own 

factory. We are trying to rebuild our 

production lines and our logistics 

infrastructure around the new digitalisation 

and automation capabilities 

that are there in the market, or that 

we are pioneering or inventing.” 

“In general, we are driving around 

15% to 20% efficiency with the new 

layouts of the logistics and production. 

Previously, we had two assembly 

lines, but we amalgamated them into 

one single line that is more efficient 

than the other two combined with more 

flexibility” – explains Mazza – “We are 

applying the same concepts of flexibility 

and digitalisation to the assembly 

lines for chassis, engines, trucks, gearboxes 

and cabins.” 

Besides that, for even further enhancements 

in its digitalization strategy, 

Daimler Brazil is partnering with technology 

giants such as Microsoft, IBM, 

T-Systems and additional partners such 

as start-ups and niche players such as 

Semantix as well as hardware/automation 

solution partners like Durr. 

Subsequently, the positive effect 

of this transformation is spreading 

across all stakeholders. “The effect 

is not only on the company and the 

employees, but also for the client, as 

we have a parallel improvement in 

terms of quality, failure prevention, 

vehicle testing and a series of activities 

to create better, more technologically 

advanced and safer products. 

Our customers are the first ones to 

benefit and we believe that by the 

time Brazil recovers as an economy, 


LATIN AMERICA 

323 

our production figures will probably 

increase significantly, because we are 

in a better position to fulfil our customers’ 

requirements, more efficiently.” 

PEOPLE, PLANET AND PROFIT 

Sustainability, as a driving force for 

change, is also a priority for Daimler in 

Brazil and part of its culture shift. As 

Mazza explains: “People, Planet and 


LATIN AMERICA 

“We have a very 

strong culture 

of innovation, 

ever since the 

founding of 

the company” 

— 



Profit, the three Ps, is a framework 

that has been more and more used 

out in the market. You have to make 

a combination of these three dimensions 

to be successful in terms of 

sustainability.” 

“In São Bernardo we have our huge 

manufacturing plant, and also a hospital 

sponsored by the company and 

a firefighter station that not only serve 

the company but also the local community 

around the plant. We are, in 

both ways, from a people and a planet 

perspective, very concerned and 

active not only to withstand local envi- 

ronmental regulations, but also going 

further and trying to offer something 

really relevant for society and the local 

community around us.” 

This approach is ingrained in the sales 

strategy of the company, as Mazza 

explains: “It needs to make economic 

sense – we believe that we have to not 

only focus on being green, on being environmentally 

correct, and empowering 

our people. We need to do that in the 

direction of maintaining the company’s 

profitability while ensuring that the 

initiatives are profitable for sale on 

this journey.” 

PARTNERSHIP IN A CUSTOMER- 

CENTRIC ERA 

As Daimler Company in Brazil we are 

laying a very clear vision for the future, 

challenges lay ahead. This includes the 

manufacturing of e-vehicles, and carrying 

on with building trust in the brand. 

“Electrical is definitely a very strong 

component of the strategy. Daimler 

launched the fully electric vehicle called 

EQC in Stockholm on September, 4th 

– our first 100% electrical vehicle.” 

“The electrification of the powertrain 

is not our only priority, but we also 

325 



“I think every company in 

the automative industry 

is facing one very big 

challenge: reinventing 

themselves” 

— 



have to understand how we can make 

the usage of our products more efficient 

both economically for our customers 

and the environment. We want to 

make sure our vehicles are shared and 

that they have a better occupation of 

the capacity of the equipment and the 

assets. This is definitely a significant 

326 


LATIN AMERICA 

part of our strategy that is not only 

a long-term dream but a dream that is 

turning into reality as we speak.” 

For Mazza, liaising with Daimler’s 

customers in Brazil is an integral part 

of facing the future: “I think the key 

message is to be open to listen, and be 

humble enough to understand that no 

one in the market will be able to offer 

solutions by himself to all kinds of problems 

that our customers could have. 

It involves collaboration, partnership 

and a combination of strengths and 

openly talking about your weaknesses 

and where you can improve. All this 

technology and the wider trends need 

327 


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to be used to become really customercentric 

to solve your customer’s 

problems or requirements and fulfil 

their expectations, comprehensively.” 

“I think every company in the automotive 

industry is facing one very big 

challenge: reinventing themselves. 

That is, trying to understand how the 

future will look; what the future is 

holding for us in the next 20, 30 years. 

What will the role of mobility be in 

a new fully digital society, and how 

can digital change impact our business? 

I think one important challenge 

1956 

Year Mercedes-Benz 

do Brasil founded 

10,000+ 


of Mercedes-Benz 

do Brasil employees 


LATIN AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘MERCEDES-BENZ | PEÇA PARA UMA ESTRELA’ 

329 

is to understand the digital mechanics 

of the industry.” 

“As a company, Daimler has confidence 

that our history and our culture 

are strong assets that we have to use. 

We are also very aware that the past 

success is no guarantee of a future 

success, so we have to be very smart, 

to be very alert and to be very sensitive 

to the changes that are going on in the 

market,” concludes Mazza. 


330

MANUFACTURING 

WORKING 

TO SOLVE 

WHAT 

331 

MATTERS 

WRIT TEN BY 

MARÍA COBANO-CONDE 

PRODUCED BY 

MANUEL NAVARRO

SIEMENS 

HOMERO JAVALERA, 

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, 

EXPLAINS THE TRANSFOR- 

MATION THE MONTERREY 

PLANT UNDERWENT WITH 

THE LATEST TECHNOLOGI- 

CAL INNOVATIONS 

332 

S 

iemens enjoys a privileged position 

as one of today’s leaders in the 

industries of technology, healthcare, 

and solutions for the processes of 

electrification and digitalisation. 

Siemens may be defined as an actor that 

understands what truly matters in today’s 

society: the extreme urbanisation of the 

planet, globalisation, digitalisation, climate 

change, and the ageing of the population are 

some of the hot topics for which Siemens 

creates solutions that leverage change. All 

this is focused on the creation of a catalogue 

and implemented in three cornerstones: 

automation, electrification, and digitalisation. 

Its production plant in Monterrey (Mexico) is 

going through a digitalisation renewal process 

that is making its manufacturing processes 

more agile and efficient – it’s truly a factory 

from the future. 

Homero Javalera, director of Operations in 

Siemens Mexico, has been at the forefront of 

Homero Javalera, 

Director of Operations 

for Siemens Mexico 


LATIN AMERICA 

333 


SIEMENS 

“SIEMENS HAS AN IIOT 

(INDUSTRIAL INTERNET 

OF THINGS) OPERATIVE 

SYSTEM CALLED 

MINDSPHERE, AND OUR 

3.0 VERSION IS IN THE 

SERVERS OF AMAZON 

WEB SERVICES” 

— 




the plant’s operations for four years, 

a labour that has earned him awards 

as renowned as the Global Siemens 

AG Award 2016 (Werner von Siemens 

Award) for the best global performance, 

the biggest recognition awarded by 

Siemens in the entire corporation. 

THE COMBINATION OF TWO 

BUSINESS AREAS 

The most relevant development that 

Javalera may have had in his adminis- 

334 


LATIN AMERICA 

CLICK TO WATCH: ‘SIEMENS — MANIFIESTO INTERNACIONAL’ 

335 

tration to date has been the fusing 

together of two production plants into 

today’s Monterrey plant, where work is 

done in three different areas. “I took 

care of the transfer of two business 

areas and the coordination of the 

whole team, a task that consisted of 

building warehouses, hiring 1,000 

people, implementing ERP (Enterprise 

Resource Planning), redirecting the 

entire supply chain and all the suppliers, 

contacting internal clients and 

investors, buying new equipment, etc. 

We have 1,500 employees in the 

factory, and we sell approximately 

$220mn and over 20mn units per year.” 

Javalera delves into the plant creation 

process: “What we did was bring two 

factories together into one – we had 

a single type of product here, and then, 

we brought over two more from two 

different factories. Now, we have three 

types of products in Monterrey: 

residential circuit breakers, industrial 

circuit breakers, and safety switches,” 

Javalera analyzes. “This isn’t just 

a manufacturing facility; it’s an Investigation 

and Development center as we 

design and launch new products here 

as well. We have a group of researchers 


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SIEMENS 

338 

conducting advanced materials 

investigations using nanotechnology, 

and another group doing Investigation 

and Development with the supply 

chain group from Global Procurement 

in the areas of automation and digitalisation 

here in this organisation as well.” 

“This is truly a company doing complex 

things, a company facing today’s most 

complex challenges. It generates 

technology to address issues such as 

climate change, energy distribution, 

clean energy generation... our portfolio 

is vast in that sense. We also address 

the issue of the planet’s extreme 

urbanisation, and to do so, Siemens’s 

catalogue serves, for example, mobility, 

trains, smart buildings, and energy 

consumption control in urban concentrations. 

We have the opportunity to 

contribute that to our clients. Digitalisation 

is a global trend and a priority for 

Siemens. Through our portfolio, we 

provide solutions for our clients, and 

we’re also developing our internal 

systems. For example, we’ve grown 

very much in comparison to previous 

years with clients such as Amazon, 

Facebook, and Microsoft given the 

investments they’ve made in infrastruc- 


LATIN AMERICA 

“SIEMENS 

IS MIGRATING 

TOWARDS 

BECOMING 

A COMPANY THAT 

IS THOROUGHLY 

ABOUT DIGITAL 

TECHNOLOGY” 

— 




ture such as data centers. 

The world is going electric, 

and Siemens has this whole 

catalogue.” 

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION 

FROM THE INSIDE 

Siemens Mexico doesn’t 

create innovation for its 

clients only, but it also applies 

it to its production processes. 

The radical changes in the 

plant’s production lines were 

a result of introducing the 

most relevant trends in 

digitalisation to maximise 

resources. Javalera explains 

how this change developed. “The 

change has been exponential in the 

last years, not so much before then. 

Ten years ago, we made very slow 

changes as needs would arise and 

according to the available technology. 

Now, we have a deeper understanding 

of digitalisation and automation; 

technology is more readily available, 

and new generations are entering 

the labour market with different skills 

in digitalisation.” 

“Change in the past three or four 

339 


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LATIN AMERICA 

The Siemens Mexico 

management team 

341 

years has been exponential indeed 

since, 10-15 years ago, we hadn’t done 

what we’ve been doing lately. For 

example, mobile technology already 

existed then, but today, new communication 

protocols in mobile technology 

allow for the exchange of data in 

massive amounts and at unbelievable 

speeds. This way, data from thousands 

of connections in your production lines 

may be connected in real time and be 

used in a very valuable way.” 

Siemens Mexico has its own team 

of experts in charge of leading the 

transition and application of digital 

technologies: “Digital Factory is our 

division leading us through the 

digitalisation process – they have the 

entire portfolio, and it’s quite vertical. 

It includes the physical elements 

necessary to connect the machines 

and generate data as well as the 

elements for interconnectivity and 

industrial networking purposes. Our 

Siemens PLM division has an entire 

software portfolio for the different 

stages in our digitalisation, and it also 

has the design software Siemens NX 


SIEMENS 

COMPANY FACTS 

• Siemens Mexico 

employs 1,500 

collaborators in its 

Monterrey plant 

• On average, Siemens 

Mexico generates $220M 

in revenue, and it sells 

30M units per year 

342 

1847 

Year founded 

Siemens building in 

Monterrey, Mexico 

372,000 

Number of Siemens 

employees globally 

$95bn+ 

Revenue in 

fiscal year 2017 


LATIN AMERICA 

to create digital twins of industrial 

processes and/or products such as 

cars, airplanes, circuit breakers, etc.” 

By executing a circular strategy, 

Siemens uses these same digital 

processes to leverage the efficiency 

of the products it offers to market. 

“For example, you can monitor the 

efficiency of our electricity generation 

turbines in real time. You can monitor 

the efficiency of the electric distribution 

and make decisions on the spot. 

Also in real time and through customised 

solutions tailored to your needs, 

you can monitor and distribute energy 

in a smart way in cities and buildings. 

Even at the production line level, 

through Siemens’s portfolio of software 

and hardware, you can know 

which engine is consuming more 

energy, or you can know what the peak 

times of energy consumption are in 

a smart building to implement energysaving 

projects,” he concludes. 

343 

INNOVATION APPLIED TO MANUFACTURE 

PROCESSES 

In Siemens’s Mexico particular case, 

the application of digital innovations 

is accomplishing a very high level of 


CLICK TO WATCH: ‘SIEMENS MÉXICO— DIGITALIZATION’ 

344 

satisfaction with processes, production, 

and manufacturing. Javalera 

offers exclusive information on this 

newly obtained acceleration: “We can 

save on months of prototype development, 

long hours of engineering, and 

lots of money in materials and tools 

by simply creating digital twins for the 

products before launching them.” 

“Before ordering new machinery 

and investing hundreds of thousands 

of dollars in equipment, simulations 

are designed by computer right at the 

production line to determine what is 

really needed. This saves up thousands 

of dollars by preventing potential 

failures from errors in the design of 

the productions lines. Moreover, once 

it’s running, you can make sure its 

efficiency is as close as possible to the 

efficiency you expect from production, 

emphasising automatic management 

of the client’s demands, where we have 

much less human intervention.” 

In matters of production execution, 

we monitor the performance of the 

lines in real time, and we receive 

an immediate response whenever 

a problem arises. Regarding quality 

and product safety, in very critical 


LATIN AMERICA 

“OUR DIGITAL 

FACTORY IS 

LEADING OUR 

DIGITALISATION” 

— 




345 

processes, we accomplished having 

deep and detailed traceability at an 

individual level for each of the 30 million 

units we make every year. We have 

a “birth certificate” for every one of 

them, a matrix code that is unique for 

every product. All of that is available in 

the cloud, and we can make inquiries, 

analyse, improve, monitor, etc. through 

applications.” 

“For machine maintenance, we’re 

installing additional sensors, connectivity 

modules, HMIs, and PLCs. We are 

getting them connected so they can let 

us know in a predictive way when we 

need to do a maintenance intervention 

so the machine won’t fail. In the future, 

we’re moving up to a prescriptive level 

in such a way that the system itself will 

give instructions, carry out maintenance 

activities automatically, and even 

create purchasing orders [for parts] 

promptly. Whenever the replacement 

part is ready in the warehouse, it will 

create and send a maintenance work 

order to be executed.” 

SOLID ALLIANCES WITH COLLABORATORS 

Siemens Mexico is proud to offer its 

avant-garde innovation to clients as 


SIEMENS 

346 

“GENERATING 

TECHNOLOGY 

TO TAKE CARE 

OF ISSUES SUCH 

AS CLIMATE 

CHANGE, ENERGY 

DISTRIBUTION, 

CLEAN ENERGY 

GENERATION... 

OUR PORTFOLIO 

IS EXTENSIVE IN 

THAT SENSE” 

— 





LATIN AMERICA 

347 


SIEMENS 

348 

renowned as Microsoft, Facebook, 

BMW, General Motors, and Ford, and 

this is thanks to its collaboration with 

top companies as well as with partners 

and suppliers. This has been evidenced 

by the recent association of Siemens 

with Amazon Web Services, the digital 

giant: “Siemens has an IIoT (Industrial 

Internet of Things) operative system 

called MindSphere, and our 3.0 version 

is in the servers of Amazon Web 

Services. These servers have a 

superior processing capability when 

compared to what we have internally 

and to what we’ve seen from other 

potential partners.” 

“Amazon’s processing capability is 

brutal; it’s very fast, and it can process 

a huge amount of data simultaneously. 

Our operative system is installed there. 

We already started by implementing 

the first application, and we plan on 

connecting over 550 pieces of 

equipment. Every piece of equipment 

will have at least 10 connection points; 

that is, over 5,500 connection points 

that will generate millions of data.” 

The company also enjoys an excellent 

collaborative relationship with its 

suppliers, such as AARK, for example. 


LATIN AMERICA 

A specialist in product development, 

it has been a global supplier of 

prototypes and production tools for 

Siemens since 1997, working jointly 

in many different divisions including 

Siemens Medical. This year, it has 

been in charge of the largest version 

of a toolkit for a single provider. 

In great measure, said collaborations 

drive digitalisation in Latin American, 

enriching and leveraging transformation. 

Javalera analyses the digital 

disruption situation in the region: 

“Here, we see it at our operation’s level. 

Job positions are truly changing. The 

demand for process engineers is 

decreasing, and so is the demand for 

data entry clerks, inspectors, etc. 

However, there is a higher demand for 

programmers, applications developers, 

and people who know about automation, 

PLCs, industrial networks, and 

big data analysis.” 

“That is a challenge; there will be 

a huge demand, and there won’t be 

enough people to fulfill it. We’re going 

to need to hurry up, both the industry 

and universities, in order to develop the 

necessary skills. Another important 

challenge is implementing a big part of 

349 


SIEMENS 

350 

the innovation in digitalisation. The 

industry needs to be more willing to 

invest and experiment without the 

burden of traditional accounting. The 

value is clear, and it does exist, but on 

occasion, it will be difficult to calculate 

an immediate return of investment.” 

Siemens Mexico has defined its 

strategy to continue transforming 

itself in the future: “Siemens is migrating 

towards becoming a company that 

is thoroughly about digital technology. 

Regarding software and digital 

services, we grew 20% last year, with 

a revenue of over $5.78 billion – Siemens 

is already the eight largest software 

company in the world in terms of size. 

We’ve acquired over $11.55 billion in 

software in the last 10 years. We’ve also 

increased our investment in investigation 

and development significantly in 

the last few years. Almost $7 billion will 

go to Investigation and Development 

every year. This includes both the 

digital and automation areas as well 

as the areas of additive manufacturing, 

autonomous robots, blockchain 

applications, Artificial Intelligence, 

advanced materials, and energy 

storage among others. 

Homero Javalera 

and Miguel Guerrero 

“In California, we have the Next 

47 division, which works as a kind of 

catalyst for startups. For the next five 

years, Siemens sets aside $1.16 billion 

for Next 47, and it’s mainly working 

with 3D printing, IoT, robotics and 

drones, artificial intelligence, 

augmented reality, 

and virtual reality.” 


LATIN AMERICA 

Collecting the Global Siemens 

AG Award 2016 (Werner von 

Siemens Award) for best global 

performance, the highest 

recognition granted by Siemens 

351 

“We are not only helping with capital, but 

Siemens connects these startups with either 

our partners or with Siemens itself to see 

how to implement their proposals in the 

industry. We also get them closer to 

both the industry and potential 

clients,” concludes Javalera. 


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