The New Automation Mindset: AI + Automation + Integration

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Stephen Franchetti discuss the evolution of IT from traditional roles to innovative business technology practices. Stephen shares insights from his time at Workday, Slack, and Samsara, highlighting the importance of strong architecture, the shift to a product mindset, and the role of automation and AI in driving efficiency and growth. They also delve into the cultural changes needed to foster a growth mindset and the critical role of experimentation in embracing new technologies.

00:00 Episode Start 

03:23 Stephen's career journey

09:55 Importance of architecture to scale IT

13:45 Overcoming traditional mindsets with your customers

15:00 Customer success stories at Samsara

18:35 Fostering a growth mindset for innovation

24:00 Strategies for scaling across business and IT

28:35 IT leaders and the shift to a business technology focus

31:30 Challenges with outsourcing

37:20 AI vs. automation

41:40 Embracing the AI revolution

• Embrace a product mindset: Transform your IT operations from rigid project-based work to a dynamic, product-oriented approach. This agility will sustain your growth and keep you ahead of the curve.
• Harness the power of AI: Dive into AI-driven automation to eliminate repetitive tasks and uncover intelligent business insights. Start experimenting today to unlock your organization’s full potential.
• Master your data: Invest in top-notch data management systems to ensure your AI initiatives are built on a solid foundation. Remember, quality data management is the key to meaningful, actionable insights.
• Cultivate an Innovative Culture: Foster a growth mindset and an environment that encourages experimentation. By supporting innovation, you’ll pave the way for groundbreaking improvements and operational excellence.

To do AI well, you really have to have enterprise-grade data. And so you can think about it almost like a garbage in, garbage out problem. Whereas if you have crappy data, you don't have enterprise-grade data, you have quality issues, you don't have the ability to kind of integrate that full picture of your data and your business. You can expect to have crappy outcomes when it comes to AI as you're training these models. You can't expect to have high-quality outcomes as a result of this. So to me, data management and your data strategy and AI really go hand in hand for organizations.”

Stephen is the CIO at Samsara. He oversees all aspects of the company’s Information Technology including, business applications, data & analytics, information security, IT service management, and all core IT services.

Before joining Samsara, Stephen was the CIO at Slack, and then previously the Vice President IT, Enterprise Applications at Workday. He also held positions at Cisco in a range of e-commerce, employee services and IT roles.

Stephen has a track record of creating best in class IT organizations that focus on automation engineering and enabling companies to scale and remain agile as they grow.

He earned his bachelor of science, with honors, in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Before we launched The New Automation Mindset podcast last year, we really wondered how far would a podcast about Enterprise IT really go? After two seasons, 32 amazing guests, and 120,000 listeners, we're definitely not done yet. 

In Season Three, we'll tackle really tough questions IT leaders are facing today. You'll hear all about business processes, organizing team members, change management, culture, Gen AI, agentic workflows, and more.

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Tembi Holmes explore the critical role of being data-driven in achieving sustainable and resilient global solutions. As a leader at Arup, Tembi discusses the importance of data integrity in real-time information exchange and the complexities of managing extensive data ecosystems. She shares her diverse background in financial services and tech, highlighting how these experiences influence her leadership. They delve into the challenges of standardizing processes across a global company and the impact of generative AI on productivity and efficiency in engineering and architecture. Tembi's insights underscore the future of data-driven practices and the value of hands-on experience for data leaders.

*(00:00) Episode Start

*(04:50) Why Arup has embarked on their digital transformation journey

*(09:52) The winning focus on collaboration

*(11:40) Building guardrails around innovation

*(14:53) From big data to big processes

*(23:09) Maintaining data integrity across flows

*(29:20) Added complexities in the AEC space

*(32:14) Why Tembi has such a passion for data

*(37:52) The importance of getting your hands dirty

*(41:20) Practical use cases for Gen AI

*(48:28) Tembi's advice for others on the journey

• Data Integrity is crucial: Ensuring the integrity of data as it moves through various processes and systems is vital. It’s not just about transferring data; it needs to maintain its accuracy and quality at every stage.
• Collaboration is key: Strong internal and external collaborations are necessary to tackle complex projects. Engaging with multiple stakeholders, from engineers to architects and clients, ensures a collective approach toward achieving goals.
• Utilize custom applications and innovations: Invest in developing and leveraging custom applications that can support specific industry needs, such as parametric design for engineers or specialized simulation tools.
• Start small with GenAI: Begin with manageable use cases of GenAI to understand the value it can bring to your company and identify any gaps in your data management strategies.

“We always ask, as data leaders, is how do we make sure that the business consumer who's not technical can leverage this technology? A lot of technology can be highly technical, the barrier to entry can be really onerous and complex. And that makes it really difficult, especially if you want to federate some of the data services that people need to be able to do by themselves. And so you need something that's at least visual, that has a process mind behind it because a lot of business consumers are thinking about the process and what they need to get to, not necessarily the technical complexity behind it. So, I agree with you that I think the visual component, the simplification is really powerful.”

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Stanley Toh discuss how Broadcom is leveraging automation and AI to stay ahead of the curve. Stanley shares his journey from teaching COBOL to leading major automation projects at Broadcom. They talk about Broadcom's dynamic growth through significant acquisitions, the power of simplifying processes, and the company's cloud-first strategy. Stanley reveals how automation has transformed processes like IT service provisioning and employee onboarding. They also delve into the exciting potential of generative AI and LLMs in enhancing automation. Stanley's insights highlight the importance of embracing future technologies and their transformative impact on business efficiency and scalability.

*(00:00) Episode Start

*(02:05) Stanley's career journey

*(06:05) What is Broadcom?

*(10:58) How to leverage technology effectively

*(15:38) Importance of fast implementation with cloud-first technologies

*(18:30) Workato's impact at Broadcom

*(32:45) COBOL vs. Workato: Changes, constants, and advice

*(38:50) Areas of opportunity with Workato and the impact of GenAI

*(42:16) Impact of LLMs on automation

*(45:12) Leveraging Workato for cost-effective automation and integration

*(48:25) Stanley's takeaway from 'The New Automation Mindset' book

• Adopt a cloud-first strategy: Emphasize the adoption of cloud-first technologies to ensure quick and scalable solutions that can accommodate rapid growth and change. This approach will speed up how you roll out new ideas and scale them up.
• The importance of a process mindset: Before diving into any automation or coding, take the time to map out your processes and workflows. This will not only clarify what needs to be done but also highlight areas for simplification and efficiency gains.
• Embrace future technologies: Acknowledge the inevitability of change and keep an open mind to emerging technologies such as AI and automation tools. Consider how they can be integrated into your operations to enhance efficiency, scalability, and user experience.
• Leverage automation and AI for efficiency: Use automation and AI to streamline repetitive tasks, scale operations effectively, and manage complex challenges with greater precision. Explore how these technologies can be applied to your specific challenges to drive substantial improvements.

“Embrace the future. You cannot stop technology. It's coming, no matter what you do. You have to embrace this, and this is the new way of operations. Times are changing. People are looking at speed and efficiency and scalability. And there's no way you can stop it, Markus. So, the idea of embracing this. And you can actually do extraordinary things with it if you embrace the technology.”

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Tristan Cox dive deep into the digital and regulatory landscape of aged care in Australia. Tristan shares insights into the formation and evolution of the Royal Commission, driven by significant events and the need for an integrated regulatory approach. He discusses the challenges and transformations within aged care, highlighting the importance of process mapping and technological adaptation in enhancing care quality. They also explore Tristan's remarkable career journey from studying archaeology to leading digital innovation in aged care, underscoring the invaluable role of a growth mindset in government IT leadership. Lastly, they delve into the future of aged care regulation, touching on Tristan's vision for leveraging technology to simplify government processes and make a lasting impact in the sector.

*(00:00) Episode Start

*(02:23) Understanding the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in Australia

*(05:16) Tristan's career journey

*(14:22) Challenges technology leaders face in aged care

*(23:30) Tristan's driving forces in his work

*(27:18) IT's role in simplifying government processes

*(35:50) Key takeaways from ‘The New Automation Mindset' book

*(41:22) Improving efficiency with Tristan's 'Operational Digital Toolkit'

• Optimize your workflow with process mapping: Begin by mapping out your workflows to thoroughly understand your processes and pinpoint areas for improvement. This fundamental step is crucial for enhancing efficiency and achieving operational clarity.
• Boost agility with low-code platforms: Empower your team to adapt quickly with low-code platforms. These user-friendly tools enable rapid development and deployment of solutions, enhancing your organization's agility and responsiveness to change.
• Future-proof your operations through composability: Design systems and processes to be flexible and adaptable. Embracing modularity ensures easy adjustments to evolving challenges, keeping your operations resilient and ready for the future.

“Decomposition is right at the center of our enterprise architecture. We want to use best in breed products and connect them together in a smooth transition, an easy connection, so that we can get the data transfer between systems. And actually the Workato product is what we landed on to do that. It has all of these attributes, it has an ability to be used in a very powerful and flexible way. Is it fast? Absolutely. We can develop stuff really quickly in there. Does it have flexibility? Yes. We can do all sorts of things with it that, in fact, we're discovering some things that weren't even in our original intent, but we're playing with those things just to understand the boundaries.” - Tristan Cox

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Jim Williams discuss automation's impact on marketing operations, spotlighting Uptempo's innovative approach. They explore how Utempo uses Workato to streamline data flow between marketing and finance, setting new efficiency standards. They also touch on AI's potential in redefining marketing strategies. This episode offers a glimpse into the future of marketing, emphasizing integration, innovation, and insight.

*(00:00) Episode Start

*(02:50) What is Uptempo?

*(04:47) Why automating the back end of marketing matters

*(08:34) Workato’s Impact at Uptempo

*(14:42) Role of integration in marketing strategies

*(17:24) 'The New Automation Mindset' and its impact on the CMO role

*(22:30) Turning big data into big marketing operations

*(28:29) AI revolution in marketing

*(35:50) How to scale through integration

• Automate the back end of marketing: Simplify your marketing processes by automating back-end tasks. Ditch the spreadsheets and embrace efficiency, saving time and reducing errors in planning, budgeting, and execution.
• Merge your marketing and finance data: Unify marketing and financial data for deeper insights. This will enable your team to track spending, measure effectiveness, and adjust strategies confidently while empowering your CMO to make more informed decisions.
• Embrace AI in your marketing: Harness AI to enhance marketing efforts. From content creation to campaign planning, AI boosts efficiency and provides valuable insights, keeping you ahead of the curve.

"Change management in any organization is difficult. But take a global organization that's got 5,000 marketers, and they're organized into different regional groups and each wants to go to market in their own unique way. So that whole idea of the automation mindset is, by integrating these systems and then applying smart automation, smart business practices, you can actually begin to pull this system together into something that gives you the agility you need."

In this episode, Markus Zirn, Kerry Officer, and Al Smith discuss the future of business applications in HR, focusing on the shift from digitizing paper systems to creating outcome-driven user experiences. They explore iCIMS' journey through three generations of integration platforms, emphasizing low-code solutions, event-driven workflows, and the integration of AI and generative AI. You’ll learn how these advancements enhance recruitment processes and create efficient, customizable user applications. Moreover, they shed light on the principles of responsible AI, especially in sensitive data domains like HR and recruiting, ensuring fairness and transparency in automated systems.

*(00:00) Episode Start

*(03:25) Business applications as a 'digitization of paper systems'

*(05:22) iCIMS's integration journey

*(12:15) How iCIMS is scaling adoption of integration

*(19:00) Workato's impact on iCIMS’ next-gen business applications

*(21:38 iCIMS’ AI and GenAI journey

*(31:55) Responsible AI in sensitive data

*(43:10) How to enhance business applications with low code integration, event-driven workflows, and AI

• Transition to outcome-driven applications: Evaluate your current business applications to identify areas where they simply digitize existing processes. Transform them into tools that actively achieve desired outcomes, leveraging tech for added value beyond digitization.
• Leverage low-code platforms for better integration: Assess your integration challenges with low-code platforms. Start small to familiarize your team, then expand gradually. This approach can help streamline your business processes, making them more adaptable and efficient.
• Adopt event-driven workflows: Identify business processes that could benefit from becoming more dynamic and responsive. Automate with event-driven architectures to enhance agility and reduce manual processing.
• Implement responsible AI practices: Begin by auditing your current use of AI to ensure it aligns with ethical guidelines. Consider where generative AI can enhance your operations without introducing bias. Focus on transparency, allowing users to understand how AI decisions are made, and involve them in the process to ensure outcomes are fair and balanced.

“When we look at scaling, it's not just ‘can we deploy more customers,’ right? It’s ‘can we load larger volume data? Can we put more customers on the platform without degradation? Can we scale globally? How do we just make smarter integrations so that it's faster to deploy same day? We get them up and running in an hour.’ So there's lots of facets in scaling that come to play in automation and integrations that we've really been looking at. As technology gets smarter, and these customers continue to want more automations, they're not settling with what they have. They're always pushing those boundaries.” - Kerry Officer

“I don't think anybody says, ‘Hey, I want to do the 10 steps that it takes for me to generate a job offer for Markus.’ But I'd like to generate a job offer for Markus. That's the outcome I want to get to and I may or may not be an expert user of the software to do that. And look, there are regulatory steps in there that I need to make sure get covered. But why can't the technology help me pre-populate, know what things need to be done, take me as if it was an expert to the outcome steps and let me handle the differential things that I need to be the value add, decision-maker on. That's what we're working on as kind of the next step with this technology.” - Al Smith

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Kamlesh Talreja explore the technology parallels between Workato and Capital One, highlighting the strategic significance of cloud computing. They explore how harnessing cloud-native capabilities has fueled innovation, enriched customer experiences, and optimized data utilization well beyond the simple migration of traditional platforms. Drawing from his extensive experience, including 15 years at Amazon, Kamlesh reveals how it shaped his perspective on innovation in the cloud. They further dive into the transformative power of APIs, the role of AI and data in enhancing customer experiences, and the cultural and operational shifts necessary for companies to thrive in a cloud-dominated landscape. This discussion uncovers key strategies and insights on leveraging cloud technology to drive business innovation and operational efficiency.

*(00:00) Episode Start
*(05:05) Kamlesh's 15-year journey at Amazon
*(16:18) Capital One vs. Amazon: Similarities and differences
*(20:10) Benefits of going cloud-native
*(25:42) Is on-prem more secure than the cloud?
*(30:50) Impact of Jeff Bezos' 'Build APIs or you will get fired' memo
*(38:16) Capital One's strategies around data and AI
*(41:45) Understanding Capital One's Auto Navigator
*(46:10) How the cloud transformed culture at Capital One

• Make the shift to the cloud: Transitioning to the cloud offers more than just cost efficiency. It unlocks agility, fosters innovation, and elevates customer satisfaction. By harnessing cloud technologies, you can catalyze business transformation and cultivate a culture of scalable innovation.
• Adopt an API-first strategy: Follow industry leaders like Amazon. Embrace service-oriented architecture for swift and scalable development, laying down a robust digital infrastructure that empowers teams to innovate seamlessly and deliver transformative solutions.
• Enhance your customer experience with data and AI: Transform data into stories and AI insights into personalized experiences. Anticipate customer needs to create intuitive products and services, ensuring every interaction reflects your commitment to customer value and fosters loyalty.
• Foster a collaborative cross-functional culture: Break down silos and foster collaboration across departments. Model after successful examples like Capital One's cross-functional teams to spark innovation and align technology with business objectives. By cultivating a culture of collaboration, you can ensure transformative projects that prioritize customer-centric outcomes.

“The strong belief we have and what I've seen, cloud today is in fact way more secure than any on-prem infrastructure we might have. You have cloud services such as AWS and Azure and Google now powering many of the military and intelligence operations of many countries, including the US. So you can't have more security than those, many of those highly sensitive workloads. And, I know for a fact, AWS, it is applying that same way they build regional data centers for the military, the same way they build it for the intelligence services. That's the same way they're building any of the data centers.” – Kamlesh Talreja

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Judith Apshago explore the dynamic realm of IT leadership and the impact of technology on organizational transformation. Judith takes us on a journey through her illustrious career spanning industries from rail to biotech. Delving into the heart of process innovation, she reveals Amtrak's cutting-edge advancements in predictive maintenance, aimed at revolutionizing operational efficiency and elevating customer experience. She also unveils her unique approach to IT leadership, where business-IT collaboration, agility, and strategic integration of data and AI take center stage. From her groundbreaking work at U.S. Silica to her current role at Amtrak, Judith shares invaluable insights on leveraging technology for transformative impact across many industries.

*(00:00) Episode Start
*(03:15) Judith's career at Amtrak
*(10:15) Judith's process innovation at U.S. Silica
*(17:10) Advice on business process redesign (BPR)
*(21:10) Role of IT in solution design and business partnership
*(26:55) Identifying cross-industry experience for process improvement
*(32:22) Challenges and opportunities in AI-driven process improvements
*(36:06) How to lead organizational transformation
*(39:45) Judith's advice for IT professionals

• Start Small and Iterate: When implementing new technologies or processes, begin with a manageable scope. Test the waters, gather feedback, and refine your strategies accordingly to ensure they address pertinent business challenges effectively.
• Leverage Data and AI: AI can help you extract valuable insights from your data, enhancing decision-making and operational effectiveness. Reimagine processes with innovative, data-driven approaches to drive fundamentally better solutions.
• Align IT with business goals: Ensure seamless alignment between tech initiatives and overarching business goals. Get IT and business teams in sync, collaborating closely to make sure every tech move delivers real business value.
• Foster curiosity and innovation: Cultivate a workplace culture that champions continuous learning and inventive problem-solving. Empower your team to explore emerging technologies and brainstorm solutions to address business challenges effectively, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

“The people who are most valuable to me in the organization are the dot connectors who can see things in different places and say, ‘if that works over here, maybe we can leverage it over there.’ Back to that example I gave about the data that we're collecting from the trains and the tracks – we're doing that for a specific purpose to improve our maintenance processes, but that data is also valuable in other places in the business. So how can I connect dots and see where else might this information be valuable and what other information might be valuable to this process? So again, dot-connecting is a kind of key skill in this area.

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Michael Balarezo explore the transformative realm of automation and AI. Leveraging his experience leading Media.Monk’s Automation and AI strategy, Michael offers a wealth of invaluable insights on navigating digital transformation. They discuss the synergy of AI and automation, highlighted by Media.Monks’ revolutionary software, Monks.Flow. Michael also emphasizes the importance of fostering an automation-first culture and making AI tools accessible across the workforce. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or industry professional, Michael's expertise offers practical advice for leveraging automation and AI to drive organizational transformation.

*(00:00) Episode Start
*(03:52) Michael's thoughts on AI and automation
*(08:11) Media.Monks' Monks.Flow software
*(11:37) Michael's journey at Media.Monks
*(22:00) Automation culture at Media.Monks
*(29:16) Empowering people in automation
*(34:59) Experiences with AI integration in automation
*(39:59) AI as a tool for inspiration
*(45:12) Michael's advice on automation and AI

• Maximize the power of automation with AI: Look for ways to bring AI into your automation projects. AI can help make smarter decisions and supercharge your automation processes to work even better alongside humans.
• Foster an automation-first culture: Make automation a part of your organization's DNA. Encourage everyone to get on board with automation, ensuring that its benefits and know-how are available to all.
• Democratize access to technology: Ensure that everyone in your team has access to AI and automation tools and training. By giving everyone a chance to engage with these technologies, you're opening the door to new ideas and innovations.
• Prioritize your budget for automation and AI: Get the money conversation going early. Make sure there's a dedicated budget for automation and AI projects by working closely with your financial decision-makers. With clear financial planning, you can speed up the adoption and growth of automation and AI in your organization.

"I've always said automation is change management. And there's this push and this pull in the automation journey. As you continue to scale out automation in your practice, you have to really identify what works and what doesn't work, for your business. But it's a team effort. If you don't have other folks around you supporting that and also beating the same drum, it makes it very difficult to kind of adopt that sort of mentality, that mindset, that culture." – Michael Balarezo