Daniel Elizalde is the VP and head of IoT for North America at Ericsson. He’s spent more than 20 years working in industries, from manufacturing to aerospace and energy. Today, Daniel also teaches courses on the decision framework that he’s created. Barry O’Reilly welcomes Daniel to this week’s show to discuss how much the concepts of IoT have changed, and the impact of technology on the current world.

The Evolution of IoT

Once Daniel learnt of the IoT concept and recognized it in the way he did his work, he started cataloguing and creating frameworks and approaches. With the advancement of technology, you can now plot a system of sensor data points on a graph, which would have taken a year to put together previously. The advancement of technology also led to the scaling back of employees and time. Daniel encourages adapting the product psyche and learning what you can do today so that you can take advantage of the technological curve in the future. [Listen from 1:50]

Looking the Other Way Around

“Building relationships is the most important part to get things done,” Daniel says. Barry parallels the IoT system with the people working in a well-functioning unit: the technological idea and the people idea is what drives the performance. Daniel talks about introducing new ways of application to Ericsson, and helping the company to unlearn some of its long held strategies to adapt to the current times. Daniel says he’s always looking the other way around to determine feasibility and what the customers really want. [Listen from 15:00]

Building Capability

Driving results, for Daniel, involves discovery and getting more projects from other units in order to apply their concepts to Ericsson. Daniel describes what has worked for him in terms of expanding technology in the company. He discusses monetizing 5G networks as they emerge, focusing on customers’ problems and adding value. “Your capability is the knowledge you’re accumulating in your organization, and making good decisions based on what you’re learning,” Barry comments. [Listen from 23:25]

Looking Ahead

Daniel is excited to see how 5G is applied in the coming years and how it will level the technological playing field. He is looking forward to individuals being able to build on 5G just like the Internet. He is also looking forward to seeing the things people had talked about ten years ago becoming a reality in the not too distant future. [Listen from 41:05]

Resources

Daniel Elizalde on LinkedIn

Daniel’s blog & podcast: danielelizalde.com 

D-15 IoT Studio at Ericsson: https://www.ericsson.com/en/about-us/experience-centers/d-fifteen/d-15-iot-studio