Business Chief Europe Magazine – August 2019

EUROPE EDITION AUGUST 20 19 europe.businesschief.com

Innovating the NHS

Digital transformation for added value

RADISSON HOTEL GROUP’S FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY How Radisson Hotel Group plans to become a global leader in hospitality City Focus

BERLIN

Merging business and culture

IT'S NOT JUST AN AIRLINE. IT'S ISRAEL

CEOs in Europe

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COUNTRIES

FOREWORD

W

elcome to the August issue of the Europe edition of

Business Chief!

Salesforce’s Field Chief Technology Officer for EMEA discusses how cloud technologies can enable growth.

For the cover story this month,

Business Chief also talks to Flogas,

Radisson Hotel Group reveals how

El Al Israel Airlines, Taco Bar, and

it plans to reach its goal of ‘Destina-

AXA Poland to discuss how digital

tion 2022’.

transformation is enabling

“This plan will enable us

them to strive in their

to become one of the

respective industries.

top three hotel compa-

For this month’s City

nies in the world, not in terms of size, but in terms of being top of

Focus, Business Chief Chema Basterrechea, Radisson Hotel Group

mind for our, our stakeholders (especially our hotel owners) and our talented people,”

looks at what Berlin has to offer, and how the iconic city has changed throughout history.

In this month’s issue, we also

says Chema Basterrechea, Executive

discover the top 10 CEOs in Europe

Vice President and Chief Operating

including Gazprom’s Alexey Miller,

Officer at Radisson

Santander’s José Antonio Álvarez,

Hotel Group.

and Volkswagen’s Herbert Diess.

Business Chief also met with James Norman and James Tromans

Enjoy the issue!

of Dell Technologies in their offices

Sophie Chapman

in London to discuss their work with

sophie.chapman@bizclikmedia.com

the NHS. e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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CONTENTS

MAKING EVERY MOMENT MATTER WITH A TRAILBLAZING FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY

12 30 Enabling all to join the digital revolution

40 WHY CORPORATES SHOULD LOOK TO STARTUPS TO SPUR THEIR INNOVATION

50

WESPORTUS: HOW BUSINESS STRATEGY CAN REVOLUTIONISE SPORTS SCOUTING

58

68

THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

HOW CASCADES AND SAP PRIORITISE SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY

City Focus

BERLIN

78 TOP 10 CEOs in Europe

CONTENTS

94 Flogas

BKW AG

108 El Al Israel Airlines

144 Dell Technologies

126 Accenture Technology

158 Taco Bar

188 GarantiBank NV

174

202

AXA Poland

AXA INM

216

234

Ascendent Resources

Refinitiv

12

MAKING EVERY MOMENT MATTER WITH A TRAILBLAZING FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY

MANUEL NAVARRO

AUGUST 2019

13

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RADISSON HOTELS

WITH ITS FIVE-YEAR PLAN ‘DESTINATION 2022’ IN FULL SWING, RADISSON HOTEL GROUP HAS ITS EYES SET ON BECOMING ONE OF THE THREE TOP-OF-MIND HOTEL COMPANIES IN THE WORLD

I

t’s been a little over a year since Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group rebranded as Radisson Hotel Group – but that’s not

the only big transformation the company is making.

14

In fact, in many ways it could be argued that Radisson Hotel Group is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance, pulling out all the stops to ensure that, as its signature promises, ‘Every Moment Matters.’

Radisson Hotel Group is already flying high in the hospitality industry: today it stands as one of the largest hotel groups in the world, with more than 1,400 hotels in operation or under development. Its new go-to-market name, capitalises on the strong partnership between Radisson Hospitality, Inc. (formerly Carlson Hotels, Inc.) and Radisson Hospitality AB (formerly Rezidor Hotel Group AB) which has master franchise agreements to develop and operate several brands across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

AUGUST 2019

15

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RADISSON HOTELS

“ T HIS PLAN WILL ENABLE US TO BECOME ONE OF THE TOP THREE HOTEL COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, NOT IN TERMS OF SIZE, BUT IN TERMS OF BEING TOP OF MIND FOR OUR CONSUMERS, OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND OUR TALENTED PEOPLE”

16

— Chema Basterrechea, Executive Vice President & COO, Radisson Hotel Group

As innovation keeps up its blistering pace in the hospitality sector, the group was keen to energise and reinvent itself. The first step? Creating ‘Destination 2022’, a meticulous five-year plan spearheaded by the Global Steering Committee of Radisson Hotel Group, with representatives from both Radisson Hospitality Inc. and Radisson Hospitality AB’s Executive Committees.

Working his way up the ranks in the hospitality sector, Chema Basterrechea, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), has an innate understanding of the intricacies of the market. He believes this latest strategy will take the hotel firm to new heights. “This plan will enable us to become one of the top three hotel companies in the world, not in terms of size, but in terms of being top of mind for our consumers, our stakeholders (especially our hotel owners) and our talented people,” he enthuses. With over 25 initiatives in the pipeline, this is no ‘quick win’ strategy. Instead, Radisson Hotel Group is zeroing in on fundamental pillars such as Brand and Products,

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘GONZALO CARPINTERO, VICE PRESIDENT EMEA OPERATIONS AT RADISSON HOTEL GROUP ON LEASE PORFOLIOS’ 17 Marketing, Sales and Revenue

franchised hotels under its wing.

Management, Organisation Talent

“In my opinion, this gives us a very big

and Responsible Business, Best

competitive advantage,” Carpintero

Systems, Scale, Portfolio Management

asserts. “Why? Because it encourages

and more.

us to significantly better our property

Sitting down in the company’s

operations to deliver better profitability.

bustling European headquarters in

For that reason, unlike other international

Brussels, Gonzalo Carpintero, Vice

hotel companies, we have a big opportu-

President Operations for EMEA,

nity to demonstrate to our portfolio that

asserts that the “aggressive yet

all the strategies we believe in – all the

challenging” business plan will

models, tools and technology that we

“transform the way the firm operates

want to implement — are working.” It’s

its hotels”. Indeed, Radisson Hotel

a matter of setting an example.

Group already has a resilient business model, with leased, managed and

Now in the second year of its strategic plan, Radisson Hotel Group e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

RADISSON HOTELS

18

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CHEMA BASTERRECHEA, COO AT RADISSON HOTEL GROUP EMEA THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN - RADISSON HOTEL GROUP’

is already reaping the fruits of its

“We are trying to support best practice

labour. “Last year, we had outstanding

operations with technology,” Carpinte-

results – they were in fact the best

ro explains, noting how the firm is using

results in the history of Radisson

digital tools to promote productivity

Hospitality AB – but we were able

and automate day-to-day operations.

to do something very important: we

“For instance, we’ve implemented a

were able to not only maintain the

productivity tool that allows us to

quality levels but also slightly increase

forecast the amount of staff we need

them compared to our competitors.”

and we are also trying to simplify

The secret behind this operational

day-to-day operations like handovers

success? It might be down to the

for housekeeping and repairs.”

company’s unwavering commitment

Carpintero is keen to add that technol-

to quality, or it may partly lie in the

ogy isn’t diminishing the role of the

group’s dynamic use of technology.

people at Radisson Hotel Group.

AUGUST 2019

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Chema Basterrechea, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer (COO), Radisson Hotel Group (EMEA) Chema Basterrechea serves as the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at the Radisson Hotel Group (EMEA), reporting directly to Federico J. González, President and CEO of Radisson Hospitality AB and Chairman of the Global Steering Committee of the Radisson Hotel Group. Basterrechea is responsible for all operational matters across EMEA. The five geographical areas of RHG EMEA report to him, which include: Nordics and Baltics; UK, Ireland and Western Europe; Central and Southern Europe; Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey; Middle East and Africa. Moreover, the following departments are under his area of leadership: Operations, Franchising, Food & Beverage, Asset Management, Safety & Security, and the Commercial teams of Revenue Management, Sales, E-commerce and Marketing.

He has more than two decades of successful experience providing strategic and operational leadership in the hospitality industry.

As former Chief Operating Officer of NH Hotel Group and Chief Executive Officer of NH Hotel Group Italia, he brings a strong track record of performance in turnaround and fast-paced organizations. His keen insights, team approach and strong customer-centric philosophy drive organizational improvements and best practices implementation.

Basterrechea is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian, and holds a master’s degree in business finance from the University of Wisconsin in the U.S. and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Oviedo in Spain. He also is a graduate of the London Business School’s Senior Executive Program, IESE Business School of Madrid and Dublin City University. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

19

RADISSON HOTELS

E X ECU T I VE P RO FI LE

Gonzalo Carpintero, Vice President Operations at EMEA, Radisson Hotel Group

20

Gonzalo Carpintero serves as Vice President Operations at Radisson Hotel Group EMEA, reporting to the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer. Overseeing more than 400 hotels operating under different business modalities, his main role is to lead the transformation of the Radisson Hotel Group’s Operating Model, which aims to convert the group into the top hotel operator in the markets where it operates. Setting clear guidelines, bringing new technology and fostering the sharing of best practices across properties are his key areas of responsibility.

Prior to joining Radisson Hotel Group, Gonzalo served in several positions at NH Hotel Group, where he was engaged in business transformation, business development and asset management. Before NH, Gonzalo worked as M&A Associate for PwC and Consultant for Deloitte at Madrid.

The combination of several roles related to Commercial, Expansion and Operations, has allowed him to develop a wide perspective of the hotel business as well as a multinational comprehension of the different challenges affecting different markets, from Nordics to South Africa. Gonzalo holds an MBA from IESE and a bachelor’s in Law and Business Administration from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is f luent in English and Spanish.

AUGUST 2019

“ L AST YEAR, WE HAD OUTSTANDING RESULTS; THEY WERE IN FACT THE BEST RESULTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE COMPANY”

guest loyalty programmes, sales, property management and much more. “EMMA is a new, totally integrated end-to-end platform,” explains Basterrechea, noting how the platform aims to drive operational efficiencies.

In fact, with the use of EMMA, employees are able to access guest profiles

— Gonzalo Carpintero, Vice President Operations at EMEA, Radisson Hotel Group

which offer valuable

If anything, it’s making their

past stays that

roles more important than

will help employ-

ever before. “We want to

ees create

help our people avoid

personalised,

non-value-added tasks

unforgettable

and focus on what is

guest experiences.

data about guests’ previous purchases and

important: our guests,”

“With a cloud-based

he adds.

platform, we’re

As part of its five-year

able to significantly

plan, Radisson Hotel

decrease the cost

Group has also shed

of our maintenance

some of its legacy

and initial investment,”

technology platforms

Basterrechea adds.

in favour of a soon-to-

“It’s also a single system

be-launched unified

which is a key advan-

system, ‘EMMA’ (Every Moment

tage because, up until

Matters), which is programmed to

now, most hotel companies have used

help with tasks like reservations,

multiple devices and multiple applications. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

21

The Cleaning revolution with Internet of Clean

The Future of Clean has Arrived

Imagine being able to remotely train workers via a smartphone device and troubleshoot issues in the kitchen without having to be onsite. This is the reality of the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Internet of Clean™ (IoC) is Diversey’s IoT platform that connects machines, dispensers, sensors, beacons, and other cleaning tools and devices. Thanks to the IoC, cleaning operations can become proactive in monitoring important tasks.

The Internet of Clean monitors equipment, machines, and operations through sensor generated data. Through data analytics, complete insight is possible into operations, dosing, compliance and machine performance.

Featuring with digital portal and intuitive dashboards, users can review data and trends. This quantifiable information offers real-time insight, into your operations, delivered in easy and quick to interpret KPIs. This in-depth insight allows you to improve your qualitative standards while lowering the cost of cleaning and hygiene programs.

These pieces come together to transform service models from reactive to proactive and predictive. The ability to maintain connectivity with these devices will allow businesses to monitor their operation remotely to improve productivity, safety and operational performance.

RADISSON HOTELS

24

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE TEAM IS EVERYTHING’-ADRIAN OYEKANMI, SVP, GLOBAL STRATEGIC SOURCING, RADISSON HOTEL GROUP EXPLAINS WHY!

It will provide a clear cost advantage

breakfasts, showers, bedding and

to the owners of our hotels and it

more, which are vital to get right every

will enable us to maximise our guest

time. “It is so important to listen to the

satisfaction.”

customer,” says Carpintero, noting how

A multi-million-dollar technology

last year the firm received more than

investment, however, is just one part

one million reviews online for the first

of Radisson Hotel Group’s five-year

time in its history. “We’ve invested

plan. ‘The customer is everything’

€12mn in our 55 leased properties in

may be a well-versed platitude in

EMEA to enhance our Brilliant Basics.

the hospitality sector, but its impor-

We’re learning from our guests and

tance rings true. With this in mind,

bringing fresh new ideas to improve

Radisson Hotel Group has underlined

the customer experience.”

its customers’ top must-haves (socalled ‘Brilliant Basics’), such as AUGUST 2019

From the mouth-watering food on its menus to the crisp linens on its

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Adrian Oyekanmi Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Sourcing, Radisson Hotel Group Adrian Oyekanmi serves as Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing at Radisson Hotel Group. He is responsible for building and developing relationships with key strategic vendors, overseeing contract negotiation, vendor compliance, and accountability across the Radisson Hotel Group globally. Adrian is based in Brussels and reports to Iùigo Capell, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Resources Officer at Radisson Hotel Group. Adrian is an industry veteran who joined Radisson Hotel Group in April 2017. Since then, he has worked to develop and implement a comprehensive sourcing strategy built to improve value proposition for the entire hotel portfolio and its owners, focusing on cost reductions, and promoting the company’s responsible business practices. Prior to joining Radisson Hotel Group, Adrian spent 17 years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. He served as Vice President of Supply Chain, where he led finance and business analytics, contract management, the implementation of an award-winning procure-to-pay platform, and Six Sigma process improvement. His other assignments at Starwood include Controller, Director of Finance, and Regional Director of Finance. Prior to Starwood, Adrian worked at Forte Hotels in London. He received an International Baccalaureate diploma from the United World College of the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Building and Construction Management from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Adrian is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA, CGMA).

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

25

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beds, ensuring these Brilliant Basics are delivered is a task that’s fallen partly into the capable hands of the group’s procurement team. “Procurement forms a critical backbone to Radisson Hotel Group,” asserts Adrian Oyekanmi, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing. “We’re leveraging the power of Radisson Hospitality, Inc. and Radisson Hospitality AB whilst never losing sight of the local aspect of our role. We’re leverag-

“ I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE FUTURE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE EXCITING AND BRIGHTER FOR THE RADISSON HOTEL GROUP” — Adrian Oyekanmi, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Sourcing, Radisson Hotel Group

ing our size and sourcing muscle like never before and we see ourselves

27

very much entwined within the fabric

reflects where we are as a group,” he

of operations.”

says. Any professional will tell you that

One of the most pressing challenges

behind any strong procurement team,

for any procurement team is the

or indeed any successful hotel

delicate balancing act between getting

company, there is also a passionate

value for money and maintaining

team. “The team is everything: they’re

quality. Radisson Hotel Group has

what makes you as a company,”

deftly tackled the challenge, with

enthuses Oyekanmi. In the group’s

Oyekanmi noting that, more than

EMEA headquarters in Brussels,

anything, procurement is about

you’ll find that a range of accents

creating value. “Getting the best deal

– from Spanish and German to English

is about more than just getting the

and American – are always within

cheapest price; it’s about creating

earshot. Oyekanmi argues that this

value for our owners and our brands

multiculturalism is a key asset. “I often

and protecting that value without

pinch myself that I’m in this role

forgetting the sustainability focus that

because I think one of the exciting e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

RADISSON HOTELS

$7.697 bn System revenue

1972

Year founded

95,000

Approximate number of employees 28

things about working for Radisson Hotel Group is the global nature of the business. We have folks

word. Just as the firm’s international

working in so many different countries,

team has been a key enabler of its

from so many different backgrounds.

five-year plan, Oyekanmi outlines how

Everyone brings a different perspec-

strong partnerships are pivotal in

tive which, for sourcing especially,

today’s ever-global market. “Ensuring

can be a really big advantage.” With

that we are partnering with the right

offices spanning from Cape Town and

vendors who share our vision and ideals,

New Delhi to Oslo and Frankfurt,

who are coming to the table with

Radisson Hotel Group is a business

innovative ideas, who are able to pivot

which is ‘global’ in every sense of the

as we’re pivoting, is critical,” he affirms.

AUGUST 2019

CO MPAN Y FACT S

• Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest hotel groups with seven distinctive hotel brands and more than 1,400 hotels in operation • More than 95,000 global team members work for the Radisson Hotel Group

29

Now, in the second year of its five-year plan,

changes we’ve seen is that we’re now part of the Jin Jiang International family

Oyekanmi outlines how the firm is

– that’s a family of over 8,000 hotels

“firing on all cylinders” to ensure that

globally. We’re already exploring how

it delivers a truly meaningful stay to its

to best leverage being part of the

guests. “I can tell you that the future

second largest hotel company in

has never been more exciting and

the world and deliver eye-popping

brighter for the Radisson Hotel Group,”

competitive advantage to our owners

he adds. “We’re delivering record-

and hotels. So, stay tuned.”

breaking value to our company, which is really exciting to see, but we’ve only just started to scratch the surface.

I think one of the really interesting e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

LEADERSHIP

30

Enabling all to join the digital revolution Salesforce are one step ahead of the digital world. The company’s Field Chief Technology Officer for EMEA tells Business Chief how the company is encouraging all to join it on its digital transformation journey WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2019

SOPHIE CHAPMAN

31

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LEADERSHIP

E

stablished in 1999, Salesforce was

founded with the goal to change, challenge and transform the

technology industry. The company was built around four key principles: trust, customer success, innovation and equality. “Trust is the common currency we hold with all customers. Whether that’s because we hold all of their data or we’re helping them change their business,” says

Adam Spearing, Field Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems for the EMEA region at Salesforce. “In terms 32

of customer success, every decision or investment we make is looked at through a lens of asking ourselves the question: ‘does this drive or enhance customer success?’ We’re clearly a very innovative company and innovation shows itself in lots of different forms. As a technology provider we like to be very innovative in what we bring to market and what we acquire. Something that runs deep through the heart of the company is our dedication and commitment to equality in all its in size, colours, shapes and forms.”

As the company continues to grow with a ferocious trajectory, Salesforce remains an iconic pioneer in the technology industry.

“We were the first company to come out AUGUST 2019

“We were the first company to come out with the concept of Cloud Computing and everybody thought we were crazy” — Adam Spearing, Field Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems, EMEA, Salesforce

33

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LEADERSHIP

“As a technology leader, we have a responsibility – especially with AI – to drive a better thought leadership around ethical and humane use” 34

— Adam Spearing, Field Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems, EMEA, Salesforce

with the concept of Cloud Computing and everyone thought we were crazy.

We were the first to come out the idea of a subscription-based licensing model. Many of our innovations have become a norm, so we believe we changed the industry we’re in for the better,” remarks Spearing. The firm has since introduced a range of technologies designed for the sales and services organisations.

Salesforce’s established technologies, which it refers to as Clouds, can be connected with data and Internet of Things (IoT) for proactive predictive purposes, allowing for seamless integration. The firm also offers marketing technologies and commerce capabilities to help engage with customers and create consistent shopping experiences.

Salesforce has a vested interest in new emerging technologies, such as

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WHY GROWING BUSINESSES CHOOSE SALESFORCE’ 35 artificial intelligence (AI). “There’s

graduates, to be able to capitalise

a lot of hype going around at the

on it,” Spearing notes. The business

moment about AI. There is also a lot

is also aware of its responsibility to

of panic and fear about what AI does

ensure technologies such as AI are

and what it could be. When you use

being used appropriately: “As a

Salesforce, we guarantee whatever

technology leader, we have a

you do will work in perpetuity.

responsibility – especially with AI – to

We upgrade all of these solutions

drive a better thought leadership

three times a year giving customers

around ethical and humane use. We

all the new capabilities without having

recently set up an office for ethical

the pain of the classic IT upgrade.

and humane use to ensure the way

We built our AI deep in the heart of

we’re driving our technologies and

Salesforce, but we’ve done it in a way

the way our customers are using our

that allows ordinary business users,

technologies fits with the ethics of

not just highly qualified technology

the company.” e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

LEADERSHIP

The company is focused on ensuring that advanced innovations are not only for the exclusive few. “We provide these technologies in a way that is accessible not just for the privileged individuals working for IT organisations, but actually for business users that can get hold of a mouse and look at scenarios and create a drag and drop around AI. It really enhances everyone’s role in how they work and operate,” says Spearing. The company has developed software designed 36

to support learning and skills development within the technology field. Salesforce wants to enable people from all walks of life to join the digital world, and aims for Trailhead to work as a catalyst to empower this.

“Trailhead is fantastic because it’s a free gamified way of learning all about Salesforce and other things like GDPR,” he adds. “The software allows us to nurture people and employ more than just digital natives. Now isn’t that a fantastic opportunity for everybody in society?”

As Salesforce continues to inspire people to work in the technology industry, digital transformation remains AUGUST 2019

“Most things are digital nowadays and I believe transformation is really about how you shift the company as a whole to move towards a new ideology” — Adam Spearing, Field Chief Technology Officer and Head of Ecosystems, EMEA, Salesforce

a core driver for growth. However, for Salesforce, it is more than just technology adoption. “Most things are digital nowadays and I believe transformation is really about how you shift the company as a whole to move towards a new ideology. We live in a world now where you can read the fourth industrial revolution, however, it is clear the world is changing faster than ever before. We have more data out there and people are willing to share an ever-increasing amount of information but equally, people’s expectations have skyrocketed from what they want from technology and what they want in terms of the services.� Spearing assures that Salesforce will continue to evolve as its surrounding environment does, ensuring its team welcomes all those wanting to join the journey.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

37

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TECHNOLOGY

40

WHY CORPORATES SHOULD LOOK TO STARTUPS TO SPUR THEIR INNOVATION Ritam Gandhi, Founder and Director, Studio Graphene, explores why traditional corporations should be inspired by startups if they want to keep up with the blistering rate of innovation WRITTEN BY

RITAM GANDHI

AUGUST 2019

41

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TECHNOLOGY

A

ccording to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), only 60 of the Fortune 500 companies listed in 1955 still retain

their place amongst the business elite. While for some of these companies, the decline was inevitable, for many it reflects their reluctance to embrace disruptive trends that have radically transformed the business environment and the nature of consumer demands.

In their wake has come a new generation of corporate titans including tech giants like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix who have rapidly become the dominant players in their 42

respective industries. While many of these companies had humble beginnings as startups, once they went public, they began to adopt a more corporate mentality in order to deliver regular profits for shareholders.

Tesla Founder and CEO Elon Musk is a high-profile critic of this trend, saying that: “Being public puts enormous pressure on Tesla to make decisions that may be right for a given quarter, but not necessarily right in the long-term.�

Indeed, part of what marks Elon Musk out as such a successful entrepreneur is that he has retained his entrepreneurial spirit despite Tesla now being one of the biggest companies in the world. Many of his contemporaries, visionary leaders who took their AUGUST 2019

43

“I believe that established companies would be wise to outsource innovation by partnering with young and dynamic startups” — Ritam Gandhi, Founder and Director, Studio Graphene

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

TECHNOLOGY

companies from startup to the upper echelons of the Fortune 500, have long since been replaced by processoriented executives with corporate backgrounds.

As someone who made the leap from the corporate world of management consultancy into the dynamic startup landscape, I know how difficult it is for companies to retain their dynamism as they transition from agile challenger to established incumbent.

While many founders bemoan the lack of a level playing field when it comes 44

to the resources available to large corporates, being small can be an

“If large companies don’t take the necessary action to stay one step ahead, they’ll soon find themselves falling behind” — Ritam Gandhi, Founder and Director, Studio Graphene

advantage for innovative startups as they are neither too unwieldy nor too conservative to implement new ideas.

make for more cost-effective enterprises. As private entities, startups can

WHAT DO STARTUPS HAVE TO OFFER?

make decisions with the long-term in

So, if the balance of power is currently

mind as they don’t have to worry about

tipping away from large corporates it’s

the impact of quarterly performance

worth asking what about startups

on their share price.

makes them so innovative. Startups

In my work with startups, I’ve seen

generally consist of a small team

how the need to break new ground

which means they can remain respon-

affects the culture of many successful

sive to changes in the market. They

startups. Indeed, the most successful

also depend for their vitality on

see their lack of scale as a virtue

identifying new, more efficient

because it makes for clear-eyed

methods which means they usually

decision-making.

AUGUST 2019

45

However, even if corporates were to

successful that it will reshape the

acknowledge the merits of this

industry, making it less favourable

dynamic approach, they are fundamen-

to the company who developed it.

tally prevented by their size, structure startup mentality. Simply put, innova-

WHY DO BIG CORPORATES FAIL TO INNOVATE?

tion in the corporate world equates

 While large companies are too big

to risk. Risk of wasted resources,

and have too much on the line to be

both in terms of dollars and man-hours.

truly creative, total disregard for

Risk of reputational damage if a

innovation is not an option. These days,

creative project fails to bear fruit and

companies understand that they have

in exceptional cases, the risk that a

to continue innovating if they want to

new product or technology will be so

guard against the threat of dynamic

and priorities from truly adopting a

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TECHNOLOGY

new challengers. Of course, casting

between their work on existing

aside your traditional ways of working

projects and on developing new ideas.

comes with an immense amount of risk

Google’s ‘20% time’ is probably the

and so it’s understandable that many

most feted example as the company’s

executives are reluctant to whole-

policy of allowing engineers to devote

heartedly commit to new projects.

20% of their time to personal projects

Some companies reach a compro-

resulted in some of the company’s

mise that allows them to balance these

most successful products such as

competing objectives. For example,

Gmail, AdSense and Google Talks.

by implementing schemes that allow employees to strike a balance

While this can approach can be a fruitful one, it’s worth noting that many

46

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘RITAM GANDHI TALKS ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUILDING A STARTUP THAT BUILDS OTHER STARTUPS’

AUGUST 2019

as they have become large global

WHY SHOULD LARGE CORPORATIONS LOOK TO COLLABORATE?

businesses. Corporates like Google now

The reality is that the corporate world

span too many sectors and jurisdictions

is being disrupted at an exciting pace.

to rely on such an ad hoc approach

Therefore, I believe that established

to innovation. Consequently, they need

companies would be wise to outsource

to find a framework that allows them

innovation by partnering with young

to continue pushing technological

and dynamic startups. Ultimately, these

boundaries while still focusing on

partnerships have the potential to

maximising the value of their major

create mutual value by granting the

revenue-generating products.

startup access to capital and distribution

companies have abandoned this model

47

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TECHNOLOGY

48

“ These partnerships have the potential to create mutual value by granting the startup access to capital and distribution networks while giving the corporate a chance to benefit from innovative new projects” — Ritam Gandhi, Founder and Director, Studio Graphene

AUGUST 2019

networks while giving the corporate a chance to benefit from innovative new projects.

This change in corporate culture takes many forms including mentorship programmes and in-house tech incubators but strategic partnerships are gradually emerging as the most effective way of leveraging a startups’ disruptive potential.

As corporations become larger and more results-oriented it makes it more difficult for innovative ideas to come to fruition. That’s why I believe forwardthinking companies are increasingly looking to collaboration with startups as the solution. After all, there’s nothing to suggest that corporates and startups have to co-exist as separate entities. In the digital age, size doesn’t guarantee future success.

If large companies don’t take the necessary action to stay one step ahead, they’ll soon find themselves falling behind.

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49

PEOPLE

50

WeSportUs: how business strategy can revolutionise sports scouting Could blockchain decentralise talent-spotting and make it fairer? WeSportUs thinks so.

Ex-Banker Latif Adéothy is applying business expertise to revolutionise sports scouting WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2019

LATIF ADÉOTHY

51

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PEOPLE

B

usiness is often told to consider what it can learn from sport. But what about the other way around? What

could sport learn from business? Sport

focuses on winning, the team spirit and match analysis, but could it also learn how to focus on customers, empower teams and better use technology?

Could technology disrupt sport and the talent-scouting process? I think it could definitely benefit from technologies that could decentralise decision-making.

52

I had an experience in Africa that convinced me to try and develop a solution. In Abidjan, a city on the southern Atlantic coast of Côte d’Ivoire, I came across a group of young footballers. Boys, with sandals on their feet, were playing on a field that looked more like scrub than a Premiership stadium. They let me join in for a little game. And we lost 10-0!

Despite having never set foot in a training centre and playing in sandals, one young player scored 8 goals! It disappoints me that this boy’s raw talent could go unspotted due to a lack of resources and visibility.

The sports world wouldn’t be the first entertainment industry to be challenged by technology. The music industry has had to reinvent itself by harnessing, rather than AUGUST 2019

53

“The benefit is twofold: to give more visibility to talent, and to facilitate their relationship with potential supporters” — Latif Adéothy, Founder, WeSportUs

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

PEOPLE

continuing to fight, technology. So, the sports world could reinvent itself through digital to combine entertainment experience, performance, and the experiences of professional and amateur athletes.

The benefit is twofold: to give more visibility to talent, and to facilitate their relationship with potential supporters.

All this and an opportunity to restore sport’s positive image, which has been tarnished by numerous scandals.

But how would this work when so many people play sports? In 2017, 54

two out of five people across Europe

AUGUST 2019

“ One young player scored 8 goals!

It disappoints me that this boy’s raw talent could go unspotted due to a lack of resources and visibility” — Latif Adéothy, Founder, WeSportUs

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WESPORTUS – APP PROMO’ 55 played at least one sport once a week;

countries. So we need a mechanism

three out of 10 also played in clubs.

which could enable young talent to

That’s nearly 155mn, not to mention the

truly emerge from the multitude of

amateurs who sometimes play several

amateur athletes around the world.

sports, in the park or at home. More

This is still difficult to imagine on social

than 600,000 hours of videos are

networks in their current format.

uploaded to YouTube every day. With

In asking myself how we could

so many people participating in sport, it

make sports-scouting less random,

is difficult to identify the new talent who

I started thinking about my experience of

could dominate their discipline.

business, banking and blockchain. Could

The solution would need to incorpo-

scouting benefit from blockchain; the

rate an innovative social network

disruptive technology that is disrupting

based on openness. Today, our talent

the business world? It is a decentralised

spotting system is focused on just a

and participatory system and so, through

few institutions located in the richest

its differentiating cultural and monetary e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

PEOPLE

value proposition, we could use blockchain to engage the social sports community in a different way.

Why bet on the blockchain? Because the fundamentals of this technology are based on the very notion of transparency and information sharing. It is a technology that is open to almost everyone, is decentralised and transparent. As a result, each transaction belongs to both individuals and everyone at the same time, making the system completely democratic and robust.

This technology gives us an opportu56

nity to bring fans back to the centre of sport. Using decentralisation, athletes can showcase themselves and fans can like them, raising their profiles to potential patrons, sponsors and clubs.

They can even give new talent a boost by microfunding new boots or access to professional training grounds.

In business terms, this clearly demonstrates how sport can better listen to their customers (fans) and empower them. Fan involvement could also bring their passion and sense of fair play back to the heart of the global sports community.

I want us to imagine a sports social network model that integrates AUGUST 2019

“ I want us to imagine a sports social network model that integrates a cryptocurrency and gives power to the fan communities that will elect the young athletes of tomorrow” — Latif Adéothy, Founder, WeSportUs

57 a cryptocurrency and gives power to

the players never get scouted. We’re

the fan communities that will elect the

inventing a decentralised global talent

young athletes of tomorrow. It’s not a

detection platform, within the reach of

pipe dream. Social networks could take

sports professionals, which will promote

on their full meaning and we can move

champions from multiple horizons.

from a narcissistic vision to a holistic

What if new technology and business

approach, taking on the role of

nous could find, support and sponsor

revealing talent and creating a meritoc-

the next Usain Bolt or the future Kylian

racy. The world of sport is truly at the

Mbappé? That’s the plan at WeSportUs.

crossroads of funding innovations and the emergence of new media to reinvent the entertainment of tomorrow.

At the moment, too much talent is never seen, never makes it out of the park game and into the arena, because e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE 58

HOW CASCADES AND SAP PRIORITISE SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY Business Chief sits down with Xavier Duprat, Director of Logistics and Production Planning at Cascades, to learn how the business is putting sustainability at the forefront of its operations WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2019

SOPHIE CHAPMAN

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

A

ces Sustainability is quickly shifting from an idealistic preference to a missioncritical change in operations. Beyond

reduced waste and increased efficiency,

sustainability has emerged as a necessary way to do business to appeal to both partners and customers.

Sustainable business practices are especially relevant in the packaging industry, historically one of the biggest contributors to supply-related waste with an estimated 30,000 tons rotting in landfills. Cascades, one of the top packaging manufacturers 60

in North America, is on the front lines of sustainable business practices through a streamlined supply chain. To hear about their story, we sat down with Xavier Duprat, Director of Logistics and Production Planning at Cascades.

To get started, please tell us about Cascades and its core values? Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres. With 25 plants operating across Canada and the United States, we are the largest manufacturer of containerboard in Canada and the sixth-largest in North America. In line with our corporate mission to “improve the well-being of people, AUGUST 2019

“ WITH 25 PLANTS OPERATING ACROSS CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, WE ARE THE LARGEST MANUFACTURER OF CONTAINERBOARD IN CANADA AND THE SIXTH-LARGEST IN NORTH AMERICA” — Xavier Duprat, Director of Logistics and Production Planning at Cascades

61

communities and the planet by providing sustainable and innovative solutions that create value,” and to optimise its supply chain, we realised that we needed more consistent planning processes, faster planning cycles and better user engagement in our supply chain strategy.

Why did Cascades decide to address the issue of waste, and how are you doing so? We have evolved our business processes to address the e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

“ WE HAVE EVOLVED OUR BUSINESS PROCESSES TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF SUSTAINABILITY HEAD-ON, KNOWING THAT IT IS AN INDUSTRYWIDE CHALLENGE” — Xavier Duprat, Director of Logistics and Production Planning at Cascades

issue of sustainability head-on, knowing that it is an industry-wide challenge.

We understand that sustainable business practices, like an efficient supply chain, are not only good for the planet but are also good for business.

What sustainability challenges has your company faced? In order to get the business results we wanted, we knew that we had to make some changes.

Working alongside supply chain leaders such as SAP, we determined that enabling fact-based decision making by increasing end-to-end

62

supply chain visibility and providing access to information from one place was something that we needed to address. There was no relationship between sales and operations and strategy and tactical operations, which was also causing issues. We knew that we needed to make some changes in order to facilitate faster planning cycles and consistent processes for sales and operations planning, while improving collaboration and user engagement across functions.

What SAP technologies are you using to help with the project and what AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING – CASCADES IS PART OF THE SOLUTION’ 63 impact is the project having on the

customers have come to rely on. With

rest of the business? We introduced

SAP, we now have a comprehensive

the SAP Integrated Business Planning

and transparent overview of our supply

solution to provide full support for

chain, helping us to be highly responsive

monthly and weekly planning processes

to customer needs.

and to enable easy collaboration and quick resolution of issues across

In the end, why did you select SAP

functions. The enhanced data and

and how is its technology helping

forecasting help our company make

with efficiency? Implementing SAP

smarter decisions. With our employees

Integrated Business Planning has

and sales teams able to focus on

helped us establish long-term

adding value, we were able to be more

partnerships with our most strategic

agile and responsive to our customers’

customers. These partnerships

needs, allowing us to continue to deliver

enable us to support our growth and

the innovative products that our

sustainability goals with our strong e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

focus on the supply chain. Since choosing SAP, we have seen valuedriven results, including: • Improved decision-making with the aid of more-accurate data and forecasts (up to 80% better forecasting accuracy • 90% less time needed for data collection • Reduced costs, due to increased visibility and improved collaboration • Improved planning security supporting sales to new markets • Greater efficiency with maximised 64

production capacity and faster access to relevant information for both internal and external users • Enhanced ability of employees and salespeople to focus on value-added tasks such as customer service What trends are you seeing within the packaging industry and how are you adapting to them? The containerboard industry is increasingly moving towards a “buyer’s market,” as more capacity and foreign investments are shifting the equilibrium of demand and supply in this direction. In the past, it might have been somewhat acceptable to operate and service customers with AUGUST 2019

65

a certain amount of backlog within

Where do you see Cascades going in

a “weekly” window, but I don’t think

the next five years? We need to have

that will be the case in the coming

a clear understanding of our global

months and years because of this new

supply chain and master new pro-

reality. Customers are becoming more

cesses in order to deliver and exceed

demanding – and rightfully so. In

customer expectations. True customer-

response, organisations need to shift

centricity will hinge on on-time delivery

their mindset to service the customer

as a critical differentiator, and in turn,

in a timely manner, focusing more

help organisations thrive in this new

rigorously on cost control, working

environment over the next five years.

capital and “just-in-time inventory” best practices. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

EUROPE‘S NO.1 INDUSTRIAL IOT EVENT! Define the future of the Industrial IoT www.industryofthingsworld.com

SEPTEMBER 16 – 17, 2019 bcc Berlin Congress Center, Berlin, Germany Industry of Things World is an international knowledge exchange platform bringing together the largest European community of high-level cross-industry executives who play an active role in the Industrial Internet of Things scene. Rethink your technology & business strategy for scalable, secure and efficient IoT: artificial intelligence, automation, standards, interoperability, cloud, new business models & digital transformation!

KEY THEMES Technical Topics ● Smart Data Factory – Which (transformative) IIoT technolo-

●

●

●

●

●

● ●

gies have the capacity to improve your production and how to implement them on your shop floor?

Retrofit legacy equipment for IoT enablement – How to upgrade / update existing equipment and legacy systems with cost effective IoT Technology?

Sensors, Connectivity and M2M – Why is it important to consider standards to enable interoperability and smooth interaction and how to establish connected & embedded systems?

Digital Twin Scenarios – Why do virtual replicas of assets create real business value ecosystem and contribute to continuous optimization?

Process Mining – How to increase Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), reduce costs and down times by real-time decision making?

Industrial Data Analytics and Machine Learning– How to apply smart algorithms and advanced analytics in your production environment?

AI & Cognitive Manufacturing – How to bring intelligence into your manufacturing process?

And many more...

Business Topics ● The IoT Ecosystem – How to foster collaboration within

●

●

●

●

●

● ● ●

your company, with your suppliers and customers to save resources and create smart environments?

Business Model Generation – How can industrial companies reinvent customer centered, disruptive Service & Business Models to accelerate processes & minimize investment risks?

Equipment as a Service – Which opportunities lie in subscription & pay per use models & how to monetize revenue models?

Business Intelligence – How to set up decision support models for investments in strategic technology platforms like IoT? Industry 4.0 from Strategy to Execution – How to scale from a pilot program to a global roll-out and how can ready to use software support?

Industrial IoT Data Strategy – What are successful steps to create a data strategy roadmap and how to turn industrial IoT Data into competitive advantage?

Innovation Management – How to start your Enterprise Digital Transformation and create future revenue streams?

The Versatile Factory – Why area flexibilization and decentralization of your production and supply chain important?

And many more...

CITY FOCUS

BER City Focus

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AUGUST 2018

RL N As Germany’s capital, Berlin has a lot to offer: a city that combines its history with modern features, Berlin is a top tourist destination and business hub WRITTEN BY WRITTEN

BY CHAPMAN SOPHIE CHAPMAN SOPHIE

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CITY FOCUS | BERLIN

A

s the capital of Germany, Berlin is a city with extensive history. The fifth largest city in Europe, Berlin has a population

of around 3.6mn people. Known for its historic landmarks – including the Brandenburg Gate and the remains of the Berlin Wall – the city is also occupied by experimental modern architecture. The tourist destination was formerly a hub for businesses in Germany – however this all changed during the city’s significant political divisions, with businesses often opting to relo70

cate to cities such as Frankfurt and Munich.

ALEXANDERPLATZ Berlin is home to the tallest structure in Germany, and the 12th tallest on the continent. The Berliner Fernsehturm stands 1,207ft high, with construction starting in 1965. Completed in 1969 and designed by Hermann Henselmann, the tower features an observation deck, bar, and rotating restaurant, despite its main function as a radio and television broadcasting station. The tower is located near one of the city’s most iconic transportation hubs – Alexanderplatz can be found in the Mitte district and was named after Russia’s Alexander I. The square receives more than 360,000 visitors each day making it the most visited spot in the city, according to its website.

AUGUST 2018

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CITY FOCUS | BERLIN

“Alexanderplatz has been in a constant

span a total length of 473km across

state of change: a shopping centre, a

the city, with Berlin’s tram lines cover-

multiplex cinema, a department store,

ing an additional 120km.

shops, hotels – more and more facilities are being built, yet there are still gaps,”

EAST SIDE GALLERY

states visitberlin.de. “There are plans

Berlin is a city full of history. Three world

for several high-rise buildings around

heritage sites protected by Unesco are

the square, but whether and in what form

situated in the city: The Museum Island,

this project takes place has not yet

Sanssouci Palace and Park and the

been decided. Only one thing’s for cer-

Modernism Housing Estates. Historic

tain: Alexanderplatz is still the biggest

monuments such as the Brandenburg

public square in any city in Germany.”

Gate and Berliner Dom display its

The city’s S-Bahn and U-Bahn subway

neoclassical and neo-Renaissance

systems run through the square, and

architecture. The German capital is

72

‘ The capital is also home to the largest open-air gallery in the world, located on the a 1.3km stretch remnant of the Berlin Wall’

AUGUST 2018

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘BERLIN VACATION TRAVEL GUIDE – EXPEDIA’ 73 also home to the largest open-air gal-

artists from 21 countries began painting

lery in the world, located on the a 1.3km

the East Side Gallery, and it officially

stretch remnant of the Berlin Wall. The

opened as an open-air gallery on 28

East Side Gallery features murals from

September 1990. Just over a year later,

more than 100 artists – some of the

it was given protected memorial status.”

gallery’s most iconic pieces include Dmitri Vrubel’s ‘My God, Help Me to

BUSINESS HUB

Survive This Deadly Love’ and Thierry

“Berlin is not just Germany’s political

Noir’s ‘Homage to the Young Genera-

centre, but is also among the most

tion’. “At 1,316 metres long, the open-air

dynamic economic regions in Europe,”

art gallery on the banks of the Spree in

berlin.de states. “As a location, the

Friedrichshain is the longest continu-

capital region offers businesses and

ous section of the Berlin Wall still in

investors ideal conditions, such as well-

existence,” notes visitberlin.de. “Imme-

developed infrastructure, an ultramod-

diately after the wall came down, 118

ern telecommunications structure, a e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

CITY FOCUS | BERLIN

large number of qualified potential

Deutsche Bahn, Zalando and Siemens’

employees, as well as an excellent

Energy Sector and Mobility units.

science and research community.”

“Berlin’s economic structure is

In addition to its tourist attractions,

diverse and is shaped by industrial

the city is becoming an increasingly

firms with long traditions, strong

popular spot for business. Some

SMEs and a dynamic service sector,

of Germany’s largest companies

as well as innovative high-tech busi-

are based within Berlin, including

nesses,” berlin.de added.

74

AUGUST 2018

DEUTSCHE BAHN

firm in the world. The company is

The privately-owned railway com-

also recognised as the largest rail-

pany, Deutsche Bahn AG, is head-

way operator and infrastructure

quartered in the city’s Schöneberg

owner on the continent, transporting

district. The business was founded

approximately 2bn people per year

in 1994, and has since become the

and employing 331,600 members of

largest railway company by revenue

staff globally. Deutsche Bahn sepa-

and the second largest transport

rates its operations – such as long

75

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CITY FOCUS | BERLIN

‘ Some of Germany’s largest companies are based within Berlin, including Deutsche Bahn, Zalando and Siemens’ Energy Sector and Mobility units’ 76

distance, freight and bus services – across numerous units, including DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio, DB Cargo, and DB Netz.

ZALANDO As a fashion e-commerce business founded in 2008 in Berlin, Zalando operates from the heart of Germany.

Located in the city’s Friedrichshain region, the firm’s headquarters serve the 17 European markets it has AUGUST 2018

entered. Launching as a shoe-focused business, the company now claims to “have Europe’s largest selection of clothing, accessories and shoes online” and employs around 15,500 members of staff.

SIEMENS Founded in Berlin in 1847, Siemens was established as the TelegraphenBauanstalt von Siemens & Halske.

Over 100 years after it was formed, the company relocated its corporate headquarters to Munich. However, the firm’s Energy Sector and Mobility units are still based within Berlin.

Siemens Energy Sector was established in 2008 and consists of four divisions: Power Generation, Energy Service, Power Transmission, and Wind Power.

Siemens Mobility covers railway technology, signalling and electrification, as well as customer services for maintenance.

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77

T O P 10

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TOP 10

79

CEOs in Europe

Business Chief counts down the top 10 CEOs in Europe according to company size, with reference to Forbes’ 2019 Global 2000 ranking of the world’s largest public companies EDITED BY

WILLIAM SMITH

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T O P 10

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10

Alexey Miller Gazprom

The longest serving CEO on this list, Alexey Miller has been Chairman of the Management Committee of Russian energy company Gazprom since 2001. Born out of the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Gas Industry in 1989, the company is in the process of building its new headquarters, the Lakhta Center skyscrape, in Saint Petersburg.

Gazprom came in 40th place worldwide, with a market capitalisation of $59.9bn.

AUGUST 2019

81

09

Ola Källenius Daimler

Recently succeeding one of the more publicly prominent CEOs in Dieter Zetsche, Swede Ola Källenius became CEO of Daimler in May 2019. The automotive corporation sells vehicles mainly under the Daimler, Mercedes and Smart brands, and competes in Formula One through its Mercedes-Benz division. Källenius joined Daimler in 1993, and has worked for the company in the US, Germany and the UK. 37th on the global list, Daimler has a market capitalisation of $71.3bn.

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T O P 10

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08

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé BNP Paribas

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé has been CEO of French banking group BNP Paribas since 2011. An engineering graduate from the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines, he has been with the company since 1993 when he joined as an investment banker. 34th on Forbes’ list, the company has a market capitalisation totalling $68.7bn. It is the largest French bank, with its retail banking core serving France, Belgium and Italy.

AUGUST 2019

Building an ecosystem?

Connect the dots. “Your journey to cloud must navigate pitfalls and opportunities that are unique to your business. We support you in imagining and delivering your cloud journey and making it run�.

Eric Meistermann, Deloitte Partner in charge of AXA Group

T O P 10

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07

José Antonio Álvarez Santander

Spain’s Santander Group is the 30th largest company worldwide

by Forbes’ reckoning. Since 2015, José Antonio Álvarez has been the group’s CEO, having joined the bank in 2002 and was appointed CFO in 2004. Growing out of the original Banco Santander, the bank has acquired and rebranded banking institutions across the world with the Santander name, including branches in the UK, Poland, the US and many other countries. Its market capitalisation was thought to be around $84.1bn as of 2019.

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85

06

Patrick Pouyanné Total

Chairman and CEO of French oil and gas company, Total, Patrick Pouyanné attended the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris and graduated with a degree in engineering. He joined Total in 2000 after it absorbed petroleum company Elf and acceded to his current position in 2014, after the death of predecessor Christophe de Margerie. 25th on Forbes’ ranking, the company’s market capitalisation is approximately $149.5bn. It is headquartered in Courbevoie, near Paris, in the skyscraper known as the Tour Total.

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T O P 10

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05

Bob Dudley BP

Bob Dudley is CEO of British oil and gas company, BP, succeeding Tony Hayward in October 2010. Dudley worked for chemical and oil company, Amoco, before they were acquired by BP in 1998, and has spent his whole career in the industry. BP, with its market capitalisation of $149.5bn, came in 24th place on the Forbes Global 2000.

As with other oil and gas giants, the company is vertically integrated and operates in an upstream and downstream capacity.

AUGUST 2019

T O P 10

88

04

Oliver Bäte Allianz

German Executive, Oliver Bäte, has been Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO) of compatriot insurance giant Allianz since May 2015. He started at the company in 2008 as COO and subsequently served as CFO from 2009-2012. Allianz is 23rd on Forbes’ ranking, possessing a market capitalisation of $102.3bn. One of the world’s largest financial services and insurance companies, it operates in sectors ranging from general insurance to asset management.

AUGUST 2019

89

03

John Flint

HSBC Holdings

John Flint was appointed CEO of HSBC Holdings in February 2018, succeeding Stuart Gulliver’s eight-year reign. From the county of Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, Flint has been with HSBC for around 30 years, having joined in 1989 as an International Officer working in Asia. The British banking and financial services company is 21st on Forbes’ Global 2000 and has a market capitalisation of $175.5bn. The organisation acts as a holding company for HSBC’s retail, commercial, markets and private banking businesses.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

T O P 10

02

Herbert Diess

Volkswagen Group

Automotive industry titan, Volkswagen Group, boasts a stable of brands including the eponymous Volkswagen, Porsche, Bugatti and Audi. 18th on Forbes’ list, the company’s

90

market capitalisation is some $92bn. Dr. Herbert Diess is the company’s Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO equivalent. With a degree in mechanical engineering, he obtained a doctorate in assembly automation from Munich Technical University in 1987. He succeeded predecessor Matthias Müller in 2018, having previously been head of VW’s passenger car brand.

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T O P 10

01

Ben van Beurden Royal Dutch Shell

In ninth place on Forbes’ Global 2000, Royal Dutch Shell is the largest public European company. Bernardus Cornelis Adriana Margriet “Ben” van Beurden has had a 35-year career at the British-Dutch oil and gas company, having

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initially joined in 1983. Vertically integrated, Shell is active across all levels of the industry, with its market capitalisation calculated by Forbes as $264.9bn. Van Beurden became CEO in January 2015, succeeding Peter Voser, and is the second Dutch CEO of the Hague-headquartered business since the position was created in 2004.

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Implementing technology in the energy sector WRITTEN BY

SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY

CHARLOTTE CLARKE

AUGUST 2019

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FLOGAS

Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, discusses the importance of procurement and the influence technology has had on operations

A

s a leading energy provider in the UK, Flogas boasts an extensive and diverse range of products and services such as

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply for homes, businesses and vehicles as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Considered a market leader in propane enrichment for biomethane, Flogas provides its 96

customers with solutions for an array of situations from heating and cooking to fueling manufacturing processes. For Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, what really differentiates Flogas from rivals is its ability to consistently add value to the services it offers. “We pride ourselves on not compromising when it comes to our service across the company,” says Eaton. “It’s important that you add value to our services; whether that be by how we interact with customers, how swiftly we respond to customer demand or how resilient that service level is. Everything that we focus on is making sure that our service level is reliable, resilient, and constantly responding to our customer base.”

Since initially speaking to us a year ago, Flogas has begun to fully embrace digitisation in the LPG market. Eaton discusses the hurdles his firm has AUGUST 2019

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FLOGAS

“ I think it’s always important to be aware of what could potentially come around the corner” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas

overcome during the past 12 months.

“A year ago, we were looking at a new end-to-end system that was going to replace a number of legacy systems to enable the business to offer a more retail service,” explains Eaton. “We’ve gone down a different route of trying to get the most out of every existing performance area that we can. We’ve begun to tighten up processes, retrain people and reposition them within different focus areas. We’ve looked at the individual systems, taken our own computing systems and looked at everything that it can do for us. Our

98

priority is doing more with the data we have and we’ve redesigned the backend database around what data comes into the business.”

With technology having an ever-increasing impact on all companies’ digital transformation journeys, Eaton points to the importance of leveraging Flogas’ extensive data correctly.

“We have a lot of data and possess vast amounts of information about our exact demand portfolio. We have access to lots of information that can really shape not just how we satisfy demand but also how we’re able to target new business. We’re at a point AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FLOGAS LNG VIDEO’ 99 now that a customer order can be

exported those orders to a scheduling

raised automatically by us based

system. We printed those routes out

on their consumption profile to enable

manually for drivers to deliver and then

the customer to be kept within product.

we entered in what had and hadn’t

That process is now almost completely

delivered which allowed us to invoice

digital from the order generation

people through the ERP,” he explains.

through to invoice.”

“Now, we have an order capture that

Having joined Flogas in January

is largely automated which allows us

2016, Eaton has helped oversee and

to manage the orders on behalf of our

shape his company’s ongoing technol-

customers within our ERP. They go

ogy transformation. “When I first joined

straight into our scheduling package

the company, I inherited a number of

and then are exported onto an on-truck

discrete systems that all did their own

computing system. When we deliver

jobs. We had an ERP system in place

the gas, it’s sent straight through with

that captured orders and then we

an electronic proof of delivery with an e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

FLOGAS

100

invoice to our customer. If it isn’t

ing the supply chain to ensure his

delivered, it tells the customer that

company’s suppliers are managed

we’ve unfortunately been unable to

correctly. “Procurement has always

deliver that, and sends it straight back

been a vital part of the business,” he

into the pot for rescheduling. If you go

affirms. “We have operations spread

back three years, you could be looking

around the country that control the

at a relatively long period of time from

flow of over 300,000 tonnes of

scheduling the delivery to knowing

product every year. There is a long

whether it’s been delivered. Now, it’s

list of suppliers that make sure that

almost instantaneous.”

the supply chain continues to flow.

Operating with procurement firmly

We’re continuously monitoring

at the forefront of Flogas’ decision-

how we manage our suppliers and

making process, Eaton understands

we conduct a regular review of our

the importance of continually oversee-

top 20 led by our central procurement

AUGUST 2019

team. What we don’t want is people

we get the benefit of their expertise in

that will sell us a product and walk

a number of marketplaces. We need

away. We want people that are going

someone that understands a partner-

to be offering ways to improve our

ship is a two-way street and really

business, and open for us asking them

listens to what we want.” With this in

to improve how they work with our

mind, Flogas has formed alliances with

business. That’s absolutely critical

Lytx and AIUT in a bid to drive mutual

to how we achieve success with any

success. “Lytx helps with data

of our strategic suppliers.”

management and provides a camera

Eaton affirms the importance of

solution to our vehicles. The solution

forming and maintaining a successful

manages the success of our delivery

partnership. “What I’m looking for in any

operation and is activated through

major partners that we have is some-

harsh braking or acceleration to trigger

one to invest in their product indepen-

a camera image of what the driver was

dently. From being partners with them,

doing, and what was going on in the

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain Tim Eaton is the Head of Logistics for one of Britain’s leading off-grid energy providers. Tim has worked in a number of senior transport and logistics roles across the Retail, Construction and Utilities industries in both operational and change management roles.

He is skilled in Operations Management, People Leadership, Transportation Management, Continuous Improvement, and Contract Management. He is Strong operations professional with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) focused in Business Management from Bradford University School of Management.

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FLOGAS

£ 300mn+ Approximate revenue

1984

Year founded

950

Approximate number of employees 102

AUGUST 2019

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FLOGAS

“ Procurement has always been a vital part of the business” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas

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105 road. This can help avoid accidents,”

an eagerness to consistently move

says Eaton. “We have also worked with

with the latest trends and avoid

our telematics system provider, AIUT,

standing still. “I think it’s always

for a number of years now. They’re very

important to be aware of what could

important because they provide us with

potentially come around the corner,”

all the Big Data, in terms of consumption data on how much customers are using and when. With AIUT’s help, we match that to what the customer uses the gas for and we’re leveraging that data to obtain a more accurate demand forecast.”

By operating with a proactive approach that continues to adapt and change despite the attainment of success, Flogas has demonstrated e uroa pe nz .busi ne ssc h hief. ief. com

FLOGAS

“ Ask yourself, what might disrupt the business?

I believe that if you’re not looking to continuously improve what you do, somebody else will come in and do it 106 instead” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas says Eaton. “Ask yourself, what might disrupt the business? I believe that if you’re not looking to continuously improve what you do, someone else will come in and do it better.” However, Eaton affirms the biggest challenge is convincing employees to embrace change. “Everything can change tomorrow, but as long as we’ve always got the long-term future in mind, people will understand that change AUGUST 2019

is necessary. If we continue to do what we’re currently doing two years from now, we won’t be in the position we’re currently in.”

With the future in mind, Eaton has clear ambitions for how his firm can remain sustainable and successful over the next few years. “We’ve invested around $4.4mn on new vehicles over the last three years to modernise our fleet which enables our footprint to become friendlier environmentally. We’ve also just invested in some natural gas-powered vehicles that will be running on bio energy,” says Eaton. “In two years’ time, we need to have completed the transformation and have a very robust analytic system that is evaluating data in terms of customer demand and is telling us what to do in advance.”

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IT'S NOT JUST AN AIRLINE. IT'S ISRAEL

108

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINE NAVIGATING DIGITAL T TO BECOME A ‘SMART WRITTEN BY

AMBER DONOVAN-STEVENS

AUGUST 2019

PRODUCED BY

K ANE WELLER

109

ES: TRANSFORMATION AIRLINE’ e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

SHAHAR MARKOVITCH, THE CHIEF DIGITAL AND INFORMATION OFFICER OF EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES, EXPLAINS HOW THE ADOPTION OF AI AND DATA ANALYTICS IS STRENGTHENING EL AL AS THE ‘SMART AIRLINE’ OF THE STARTUP NATION

E

L AL is Israel’s national airline, boasting close to 6mn customers a year and US$2bn in annual revenue. Before joining

EL AL as the airline’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, Shahar Markovitch was the Chief Digital 110

Officer of Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s largest banks. Prior to that he was a partner of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, and as such brings experience of shaping the digital strategy and leading digital and IT transformations of organisations all over the world. A little over a year ago, Markovitch brought this expertise to EL AL to assist in the creation of a new division that combines IT and digital to drive the technological transformation of the company.

Markovitch begins by sharing that there are two key disruptions in the airline industry today. The first is “the digital airline, which is a combination of both new business models like the low-cost carrier model with new open sky regulation.” Secondly, he adds that “the customer is becoming more digital” with access to dozens of options for booking their flight. Yet Markovitch also says that there is a new AUGUST 2019

111

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EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

revolution hurtling towards the airline

business, airlines are one of the

industry: what he calls the smart airline

industries to benefit most from AI and

revolution, major disruption fueled by a

machine learning technologies,” he says.

combination of data and machine

“When we built our strategy for EL AL’s

learning. A key component of a ‘smart

technology and digital transformation,

airline’ is the ability to leverage AI,

we realised that we need to win in these

machine learning and analytics to deliver

two fronts at the same time. On the one

a better, more personalised customer

hand, we had to fully transition to a

experience, drive revenues and

‘digital airline’ to remain competitive,

profitability, and improve operational

on the other hand, we must build capa-

efficiency. “According to research,

bilities for becoming a smart airline

due to the massive complexity of the

in order to remain ahead of the next

112

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES: MILESSTONES’ 113

disruption.” EL AL also realised that one of its main differentiators in the technology space is the fact that it is the airline of

native” capabilities in its day to day life?

3. How do we make ELAL’s “IT factory” a competitive differentiator?

the ‘startup nation,’ being immersed in ecosystems in the world. This gave birth

1. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY AND ROADMAP FOR THE ‘SMART AIRLINE’

to its vision of becoming the smart airline

EL AL started with defining a clear

of the startup nation.

roadmap on how technology as a

one of the most vibrant tech and startup

To achieve this vision, the company

whole will transform the company.

defined a transformation plan centered

“This is what our business should

around the following questions:

look like in the future across all areas

1. How will technology affect every aspect of our airline operations?

2. How will ELAL infuse “digital

of operation, from front to back – anything from having leading digital websites all the way through having e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

Don’t guess how people feel about your business.

Let them tell you.

Experience Management is here.

Understand what your customers are feeling and act on it. sap.com/XM Š 2019 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

LET’S MOVE THE WORLD, TOGETHER At SITA we’re co-innovating with customers to give passengers greater control over their travel experiences. Through increased self-service options and more real-time information we’re ensuring they’ll enjoy more seamless journeys through the airport. Because when air travel is simple, it has the power to move passengers emotionally as well as physically. sita.aero

automated back-end operations to

nance of its planes. As components to

dynamic and smart routing to giving

planes are expensive, aircraft are

our employees better smart digital

regularly maintained. Every few

tools,” says Markovitch. Given the

months each plane is taken apart and

importance of operational excellence

reassembled again to inspect all of its

for airlines, a large part of the roadmap

components. To manage this, Marko-

addressed these areas. For example,

vitch explains, EL AL has implemented

one of the areas where EL AL sees

a system designed by Swiss Aviation

huge potential for leveraging technology

called AMOS, which digitised the

to transform operations is the mainte-

end-to-end maintenance process.

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Shahar Markovitch Shahar Markovitch is Chief Digital and Information Officer of EL AL Israel Airlines as of March 2018. Shahar joins El Al from Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, where he served as Chief Digital Officer, responsible for digital strategy and roadmap, customer experience, digital platforms, and all digital related projects. As part of his role there, Shahar launched a number of award winning digital products, including bit, Israel’s largest P2P payment app. Previously he was a partner in McKinsey & Company, focusing on digital, technology, and innovation, and leading digital transformations for the world’s leading organisations. Before McKinsey Shahar held technology and leadership positions in a number of Israeli high-tech startups and partner communication. Shahar holds a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Computer Science and Maths from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Master in Business Administration from MIT in Cambridge, USA, with a 5.0/5.0 GPA. He was recognised as one of Israel’s top 100 people in digital for 2017.

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EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

“ A KEY COMPONENT OF A ‘SMART AIRLINE’ IS THE ABILITY TO LEVERAGE AI, MACHINE LEARNING AND ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE THE AIRLINE WITH THE EXTRACTED DATA” 118

— Shahar Markovitch, Chief Digital and Information Officer, El Al Israel

AUGUST 2019

119

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EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES

120

C O M PA N Y FACT S

• One terabyte of data is generated from every flight • EL AL is Israel’s national airline boasting close to 6mn customers a year, and US$2bn in annual revenue

AUGUST 2019

EL AL is also extending this system to create a fully paperless maintenance process where all of the ground technicians will use tablets for maintenance activities.

Another example is end to end management of finances and process management. “We are working with SAP to digitise, automate and create the technology backbone for our entire finance and procurement operations, including some of our warehouse management activities.” This allows a greater streamlining of operations, saving time and money.

2. INFUSING “DIGITAL NATIVE” CAPABILITIES IN THE DAY TO DAY LIFE OF THE AIRLINE As part of the transformation, ELAL is focusing on embedding “digital native” capabilities that are a must have for every company operating in the digital age in the areas of customer experience, digital platforms, and data and analytics. “We start with customer experience, and how our plan fits with the end to end customer journey,” Markovitch explains. “It’s about how we leverage methodologies like design thinking to drive the actual value e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

121

$2.1.bn Approximate revenue (USD)

business makes, and using insights to increase profitability.

These capabilities work together to deliver innovative digital products to EL AL’s customers. For example, customer

1948

research showed that one of the pains for customers traveling abroad is the

Year founded

cost of a taxi to the airport. As a

6,000

innovative digital platform called

Approximate number of employees

response EL AL developed an “Taxi Pool”. This is one of the first services of its kind, designed to facilitate sharing taxis for customers who travel from the airport to the same hotel or hotels in close proximity. The system connects people who are

proposition that we offer our customers

taking the same flight, matching up

as part of our overall transformation

groups who can pool a taxi to save

roadmap.” Then EL AL considers its

money. This service is provided by EL

digital platforms, which includes not

AL to customers all over the world, no

only upgrading its digital channels but

matter what airline they are using.

also transforming the way the company

These capabilities are further

thinks of and develops these channels,

accelerated by implementing start-up

moving from “a project view of the world

technology solutions. One example is

to a product view of the world” with the

a hybrid chatbot EL AL launched to

aspiration of operating like a “native

assist customers, which can be

digital player”. The last value multiplier is

accessed through WhatsApp or

leveraging data and advanced analytics,

Facebook Messenger. The hybrid bot

which Markovitch says is essentially

mixes state of the art AI with human

managing data as an asset, embedding

support. Should the bot be unable to

data-driven tools into every decision the

provide a solution to the customer, e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

123

AMOS. AGAIN.

AMOS, the world-class M&E software solution, supports EL AL’s vision to become a paperless company.

Swiss-AS recognizes EL AL as one of the early adopters when it comes to digitizing and then later digitalizing all maintenance processes.

EL AL is a customer that is investing a lot of effort in fully understanding the potential that lies in AMOS and exploiting it to the maximum.

“ Implementing AMOS in our organization enabled us to have end to end solution with full transparency of M&E processes & costs. We can now better control the work in all our departments, improve our inventory management and establish better automated connections to our customers and suppliers. AMOS enables us to constantly improve our processes to be lean & efficient.”

EL AL’s Department Manager SW implementation in M&E

SWISS-AS.COM

member of the support team, without

3. TURNING THE IT FACTORY TO A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

the customer ever needing to be aware

Markovitch highlights that the third pillar

of this shift. Another example of a

of the company’s digital transformation

digital platform that combines data and

is upgrading its technology factory. This

analytics with advanced data analytics

focuses on transforming the entire

is Bid2Fly. This solution uses data

technology stack to enable faster time

analytics to analyse low sale flights

to market and greater flexibility while

and combine that with the buying

ensuring resilience and security in

patterns of a customer. If a customer is

everything EL AL does. Part of this

unlikely to buy a flight, they have the

includes moving towards a more agile

opportunity to save up to 50% on a

way of working and changing the

flight by bidding on it at auction that

software architecture and infrastructure.

may not have sold at all otherwise.

In this activity as well, the focus in on

there is a seamless connection to a

AUGUST 2019

bringing business value and competitive

flexibility the business demands.

advantage through the technology

EL AL has also implemented a Big Data

factory. For example, “How do we

solution based on Cloudera. “The

enable better services for our custom-

queues, the various dates, and the

ers through API and open systems?

analytics we run on the Cloudera

What value can we bring by accelerating

infrastructure are to decide what kind of

our move to the cloud, and how will the

marketing message we should provide,

automation of our IT operation improve

and how to better appeal to each

our customer satisfaction”

customer,” he explains.

When faced with the goal of creating a

As EL AL looks to the future,

more personalised customer experience

Markovitch says that there is already a

using its Adobe marketing automation

lot in the pipeline. After a recent upgrade

solution, the focus was on finding a

to the mobile app, the company has

solution that could process large

launched a new website, which will

amounts of data but also provide the

improve upon customer engagement and allow customers to access and better understand their frequent traveller miles. Additionally, the airline is acquiring new planes including the Dreamliner 787 which are being equipped with Wi-Fi. “Overall, we’re going through quite a lot of changes and technology is a vital part of these changes.” With a clear path set, it is without a doubt that EL AL will continue to strengthen its position as the ‘smart airline’ of the startup nation.

IT'S NOT JUST AN AIRLINE. IT'S ISRAEL

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

125

126

SUPPORTING COMMERCIAL STRATEGY WITH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENEAR PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

AUGUST 2019

127

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ACCENTURE

Philippe Chauffard, Managing Director of Accenture’s Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure division, advocates for a multithread cloud evolution, driven by the business case

T

he enterprise is entering a new “post-digital” era, where success will be based on how companies can apply new technol-

ogies in people-centric ways, creating personalised experiences for customers, employees and 128

business partners. As technological innovation continues to accelerate – with new, more powerful solutions coming to market on an almost daily basis – few people could be blamed for feeling like dinosaurs, watching all the other animals board an Ark with ‘cloud’ written on the side of it. However, while the vast majority of companies have begun their digital transformation journeys, such as migration to the public cloud, the collective journey is still very much in its early stages. “75-80% of all enterprises are doing cloud in various shapes or forms, but if you look at how much of their estates they’ve actually migrated or leveraged into cloud, it’s still fairly small,” comments Philippe Chauffard, Managing Director of Accenture’s Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure division. “While everybody is doing it, a lot of people are still in the early stages.”

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129

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ACCENTURE

“ While almost everybody is doing cloud, a lot of people are still in the early stages” — Philippe Chauffard, Managing Director, Accenture Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure

Combining a wealth of experience with specialised skills across more than 40 industries, Accenture is a leading provider of professional services at the intersection of business and technology. Employing over 477,000 professionals, the company has empowered businesses of every size to realise their strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations goals since 1989. Today, in 2019, Accenture’s Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure segment exists on the front lines of a global digital transformation

130

powered by Industry 4.0. Helping guide Accenture’s clients and partners on this multi-thread journey, Chauffard is uniquely positioned to provide insight into both the changing state of the digital transformation game and Accenture’s role in delivering a sustainable, cloud-based future.

In a world where the average length of time between an employee switching jobs has shrunk to 3.2 years for workers aged 25-34, Chauffard’s 31 years at Accenture stand in stark contrast to the modern economy.

“It’s true that mine is becoming a bit of an unusual career track, but in AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘TECH VISION 2019: OVERVIEW’ 131 my time at Accenture I’ve held so many

In the world of technological innova-

different roles across different indus-

tion and digital transformation, change

tries and programmess – Accenture’s

appears constant and blindingly fast.

positioning and strengths have given

Chauffard, however, is in a perfect

me the opportunity to lead programmes

position to observe the slower, more

that would not have been possible with

tectonic transformations occurring

other companies in terms of scale and

beneath the surface. This big picture

complexity,” Chauffard explains. Working

perspective gives him valuable insight

across all five continents, his position

into the key strategic enablers of a suc-

always focused on infrastructure in

cessful cloud migration, and the ways

some form, which he combines with

in which the digital infrastructure indus-

Accenture’s cloud agenda in his current

try is maturing to a point where evolu-

role, taken on in September 2018. “It’s

tion in support of value realization,

been exciting, and as long as it stays ex-

not revolution for technology’s sake,

citing, I’m in the right place,” he enthuses.

is the mantra for progress. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

Are you ready to embrace a multi-cloud reality?

By Gary Robinson, EMEA Director, Global System Integrators, Commvault When the advertising at train stations or on the side of every other taxi is talking about the importance of cloud computing and its business benefits, trying to decide the best combination of cloud solutions to manage the variety of data sets, critical workloads, applications and emerging technologies, such as AI, Internet of Things or blockchain, can be confusing.

According to Gartner, enterprise IT spending for cloud-based offerings will grow faster than traditional (non-cloud) IT offerings through 2022. By 2022, cloud shift across key enterprise IT markets will increase to 28%, up from 19% in 2018 and organisations without a cloud-first strategy where the cloud is primary, prioritised and promoted, will likely fall behind competitors.

As well as this groundswell towards the cloud, today’s CIOs are increasingly recognising that single provider cloud solutions are less-and-less fit for purpose when it comes to addressing the data challenges of today, and the demanding business requirements of tomorrow. To put this into context, a recent IDC study found that the volume of data on earth is predicted to increase from 33 Zettabytes (ZB), in 2018 to 175ZB by 2025, half of which will be stored in public cloud storage.

It can be challenging enough to manage terabytes of data across multiple environments with one cloud provider, just imagine doing this with zettabytes of disparate data sets, across multiple cloud providers all offering variations of private, public, hybrid environments and different SLAs to boot.

People aside, data has become the most important asset for organisations operating in today’s digital economy. The shift to cloud has been an underlying enabler for the digital transformation boom of the last decade, but a bi-product of this (increasingly multi-cloud), shift has been unprecedented challenges to manage, use and secure data.

Data responsibility is one of the central challenges that organisations now face today, but most often, traditional tools simply don’t cut it when it comes to handling workloads across different cloud environments or multiple platforms. While there are plenty of niche solutions that work well enough in specific environments, surely this single-use approach actually encourages vendor lock-in and increases complexity rather than solving it?

By minimising the risk of cloud provider lock-in; providing service resiliency and migration opportunities; and offering the benefits of agility, scalability and elasticity along the way, hybrid and multi-cloud approaches are no longer a matter of if, rather a matter of when. And, this in turn has fuelled the need for data management solutions that can ensure data is protected and managed across whatever platform or variety of cloud infrastructure it lives in.

In a multi-cloud, hybrid environment, where change is the only true constant, an organisation’s ability to protect data, move it around freely, recover it and have a single view of its data assets is critical to its future success. Whether you’ve yet to begin or have already started your cloud migration roadmap, working with the right partners can accelerate your journey to the cloud and, at the same time, empower your business to stay ahead of the competition.

At Commvault, we love what we do. And we love working with Accenture. The Accenture Cloud Innovation Center, coupled with our best-in-class features and functionality, we’ve got all your questions and needs covered when it comes to delivering a data management and cloud strategy fit for the hybrid and multi-cloud world of tomorrow.

LEARN MORE

ACCENTURE

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“First of all, a key lesson I’ve learned

for new technological adoption is an

from working on many different initia-

increasingly prevalent approach, both

tives with Accenture’s clients is that

as the industry becomes more mature

technology challenges are not the big-

and considered, and also as the power

gest challenges,” Chauffard explains.

of cloud infrastructure is better under-

“At the end of the day, technology is a

stood. “The conversation has shifted,”

means to an end. If you look at the last

Chauffard explains. “In the past, a cloud

two to five years, industry disruptions

roadmap was drawn up with cost reduc-

have all been powered by technology

tion as the focus, and that’s changed.

evolutions. It’s such an exciting space

Yes, you still need to save some costs,

to be in, but technology adoption only

but what I’m really after are ways to

makes sense if it’s business strategy

start leveraging those cloud capabilities

driven.” Chauffard argues that ensur-

and features to drive increased flexibility,

ing there is a strong business case

agility and innovation in my business.”

AUGUST 2019

Chauffard emphasises that agility

and so on. The pressing question is how

and flexibility are essential if compa-

to use cloud to become a central piece

nies wish to survive and thrive within

of your ecosystem, and then use that

their ecosystems. “The idea of the eco-

ecosystem to deliver the most innova-

system is essential to this new cloud

tive possible services to your custom-

economy,” he explains. “Every com-

ers. This is even more strategic and im-

pany is part of an ecosystem between

portant for Accenture. We are a people,

customers, partners, collaborators

services and transformation company,

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Philippe Chauffard Managing Director, Accenture Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure Philippe Chauffard is the Managing Director responsible for Accenture’s Cloud and Infrastructure Services in Europe. Philippe is responsible for both consulting and outsourcing sales, and transformation delivery across cloud and infrastructure. Prior to this role, Philippe led Infrastructure Services for Financial Services for Europe and Latin America. During his 30-year career at Accenture, Philippe has focused on architecting, delivering and operating large-scale infrastructure solutions for multinational clients.

He has extensive cloud and infrastructure experience, ranging from strategy to transformation, migration and operations. Philippe has worked across all industries in Europe, with a primary focus on Communications and Financial Services. He has worked for clients in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He holds a Master of Science degree in Physics from Ecole Polytechnic Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland.

Philippe is based in Accenture’s Sophia Antipolis office in France.

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and therefore it’s vital for us and for our clients that we are at the centre of our ecosystem. This is why we work hand in hand with our strategic partners – whether it’s some of the hyper scale providers like AWS, Azure and Google, or the key platform players like SAP or ServiceNow, or enterprise technology providers like Commvault. Accenture Cloud Innovation Center (ACIC) in Rome is a prime example of co-innovation across the ecosystem.”

Chauffard emphasises that com138

panies need to resist the impulse to buy the “shiniest toys” and carefully consider the business use cases. In addition to the more value realization focused approach to IT transformation

They were failing because the operat-

he is advocating for, he also notes that,

ing model and talent transformation

as businesses seek to achieve deeper

had not happened.”

penetration with their digitalisation

Chauffard explains that transforma-

strategies, the pace of transformation

tion of the operational model alongside

needs to slow to avoid corporate whip-

a company’s IT capabilities, described

lash. “Four or so years ago, Gartner

by Accenture as its ‘Run Different’

found that 80% of companies’ cloud

strategy, centres around four key

transformations were failing, or they

capabilities: Cloud Management and

said they didn’t feel as though they

Operations, Cloud Optimisation, Con-

were seeing the benefits,” says Chauf-

sumption and Security. “They are nec-

fard. “Those transformations weren’t

essary to have an underlying platform

failing because of the technology.

from which to innovate technologically,”

AUGUST 2019

$39.6bn Approximate revenue

1989

Year founded

477,000

Approximate number of employees 139

says Chauffard. First, Cloud Manage-

ing everything from weighing the ca-

ment and Operations focuses on the

pabilities of a company’s architecture

ongoing cloud asset management.

against the services the company

“To support cloud, you need a whole

has, to advanced and ongoing optimi-

operating model and the associated

sation techniques. Third is Consump-

talent transformation, and that’s often

tion Management and Consolidation.

one of the biggest issues for our cli-

“We’ve moved to an ongoing consump-

ents,” he explains. Ensuring communi-

tion world, so buying and sourcing

cation and effectively managing talent

becomes an ongoing process,” says

while avoiding silos is crucial to

Chauffard. A company’s capability

a successful reincarnation of a com-

to manage its consumption of cloud

pany’s cloud management strategy.

resources efficiently not only reduces

Second is Cloud Optimisation: ensur-

cost and administrative work, but also e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

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“ Accenture has given me the opportunity to lead programs that would not have been possible with other companies in terms of scale and complexity” — Philippe Chauffard, Managing Director, Accenture Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure

“We’re not going to see many more ‘big bang’ – 12 months and we’re done for the next 10 years – transformations.

People are becoming more thoughtful,” says Chauffard. “It’s going to be much more of an ongoing migration, evolution and modernisation of the application landscape.” The slower, measured, business case driven approach doesn’t do away with everything and build a new cloud-based company from scratch. “It’s a multi-threaded evolution across multiple applications,” Chauffard explains. “Starting from your

provides information to support

existing application landscape, there

the management and optimisation

are going to be some applications that

strategies. Lastly, Chauffard explains,

can just be lifted and shifted to the

is Security. “It’s something that is con-

cloud with minimal work and cost.

tinuously evolving, and therefore you

Some will need more of a remediation,

need to be able to enforce a set

and some applications you’re going

of standard security functions and

to have to rewrite from scratch. Some

services.” All four capabilities can

applications will happily stay forever

be applied via a management plat-

in the legacy system and will eventually

form, and choosing and operating

die away several years later, because

the correct piece of software again

there is no business case to rewrite

relies on Chauffard’s advice: trans-

them or move them or do something

formation, evolution and optimisation

with them.” The important step, and

need to happen, not for their own

what gives Chauffard’s plan its natural,

sakes, but in support of the overall

evolutionary pace, is the firm rule that

business case.

any new applications or technologies e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

141

ACCENTURE

142

“ It’s such an exciting space to be in, but technology adoption only makes sense if it’s business strategy driven” — Philippe Chauffard, Managing Director, Accenture Intelligent Cloud Infrastructure AUGUST 2019

are required to be cloud native.

This way the progression from legacy to private and public cloud progresses through a stable hybrid approach.

“We’re going to be in a hybrid world for many years to come,” Chauffard says.

Technological progress is not constant and measured; like evolution it progresses in fits and starts before claiming new ground. Small, incremental replacements of parts of a company’s IT estate, paired with constant optimisation, Accenture and Chauffard

143

believe, is the best method to success-

now and 2022 will be an extremely

fully reconcile the frenetic pace of

exciting time. We’re going to see

technology with the evolving needs

the pace of innovation accelerate,

of the business. “I think the whole

as companies’ evolutions progress

approach to defining your cloud

and the paradigm shifts. I think I’m

strategy, defining your roadmap for

in absolutely the right spot within

your cloud journey, for the prioritisation

Accenture; I have great expectations

and for what you’re going to leverage

for our business in this space.”

from the very wide range of services that are available in the market again needs to be driven by the strategic agenda and the business agenda,” Chauffard concludes. “I think between e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

144

AUGUST 2019

145

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DELL TECHNOLOGIES

Dell Technologies discusses its partnership with the NHS and how the business is enabling innovation within the healthcare industry

I

n the past, digital transformation used to simply mean getting new PCs, but that’s now been pushed aside,” said

James Norman, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Healthcare of the EMEA region at Dell Technol146

ogies. “People are recognising it’s actually about the culture and how they transform the way they work, and we’re trying to support them on that.

We’re focused on building partnerships and helping with the understanding of what the new technologies roadmap is, and demonstrating how they can use technology differently.”

One of Dell Technologies’ major customers is the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) – the business currently works withthe majority of the NHS’s trusts and hospitals in the UK. Norman notes how the firm’s relationship with the NHS has changed subtly over the years, from responding to tenders or selling servers to reacting to what’s happening within the organisation, and what’s changing in the health industry. “Yes, we still sell computers, software and storage – of course, that’s the business AUGUST 2019

147

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DELL TECHNOLOGIES

“ Technology can really drive new innovations, new opportunities, new ways of actually working with the market” — James Norman, CIO of Healthcare for EMEA region, Dell Technologies

we’re in. However, now there’s a huge focus on what’s right for the customer and coming up with new ways for them to be able to engage with us. That actually reduces the burden on them financially, whilst improving operational efficiency and outcomes,” says Norman.

Norman defines digital transformation as stretching across five key areas: workforce, end-use computer, security, applications and backend IT. According to Norman, one of the most important aspects of a digital transformation journey is laying the right

148

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘JAMES NORMAN HEALTHCARE CIO - EMEA AT DELLEMC ON CULTURE CHANGE, TRANSFORMATION AND WORKING WITH THE NHS’ 149 foundations. “You don’t build a house

at the workforce, as they are a compa-

without putting your foundations down

ny’s most valuable asset. So how can

– it’s the same with the NHS. You don’t

you support the staff to work differ-

put a new electronic system in until

ently? It’s all very well providing

you know that it’s going to work.

the NHS with a new clinical system

If you put a system in and it goes down,

but, actually, it could be just another

clinical staff will lose faith in you,”

burden on the staff. So how can

he says. He argues that if the appro-

we make that easier?”

priate substructure is not used, the

Dell Technologies are providing

customer will find a way to bypass

the technology infrastructure to

the system and revert to their legacy

support a digital imaging for pathology

services. “What we then do is look at

service which will aim to improve health

how can we actually take advantage

outcomes for up to 3.2 mn patients

of the system and modernise services

across the North East and North

and culture,” he adds. “Then we look

Cumbria (NENC). Working with seven e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

Helping make the UK a better and safer place to live and work How our partnership with Dell Technologies is helping the NHS to modernise IT

Helping with the needs of today, preparing for the digital opportunities of tomorrow The potential for transformation in the healthcare sector is huge: patients want it, frontline staff want it, and NHS leaders want it. Computacenter recently conducted a survey of more than 100 IT professionals across NHS trusts. The demand for new technology is high, with a wide-ranging wish list: for example 30% of respondents want to implement tablet devices in the next 12 months, providing technology at the point of patient care.

Our role is to be supportive advisor Our engagement with Healthcare leaders and our recent survey, has provided us with great insight. Greater digitalisation will require new skills, new processes, and new policies. Navigating this new landscape will not be easy: as well as highlighting a lack of budget and resources, our survey revealed that some IT system upgrades are not pursued as they are just too complicated.

In our conversations with healthcare leaders, modernisation of IT is still very much a top priority in how they improve staff productivity and patient experience. Modern IT capability and digital technologies help clinicians, carers and consultants to spend more time with patients. Because not only does it allow them to access information relevant to that patient in real time but it also enables them to enter that information and feedback straight into the system so it’s accessible to all again in real time. But implementing and transforming technology needs financial resources.

30%

Many healthcare organisations are claiming that budget constraints are the prime reason for their inability to upgrade ageing IT infrastructure, but we can’t afford to neglect this: to deliver better patient outcomes and value for money, the digital roadmap must be pushed forward. Computacenter is playing its part by working with NHS Digital and individual trusts to accelerate the adoption of new technologies and also maximise benefits realisation.

Our Partnership

of respondents want to implement tablet devices in the next 12 months

The transformation of NHS IT is critical to the future of healthcare delivery and enabling a more preventative approach: modernising IT is the top priority in 2019 for our survey respondents. The government has already recognised the importance of technology and now is the time to step up its commitment.

The NHS faces unprecedented financial and operational challenges, and patient care is suffering despite the determined efforts of frontline staff. We want to help the NHS with its needs of today and also prepare it for the digital opportunities of tomorrow.

ACCESS OUR RECENT RESEARCH

We simplify change. We accelerate change. We deliver guaranteed outcomes. With benchmarked skills and knowledge, Computacenter and Dell Technologies work together to deliver and support efficient and reliable solutions that meet all of your data management and people needs. Many of the world’s leading organisations choose us because of our ability to architect and implement Dell Technologies solutions and all other aspects of their IT with an unrivalled level of integration.

Together, Computacenter and Dell Technologies are helping customers achieve their digital transformation agenda by: • • • •

Removing cost and complexity from IT management Making better use of resources Better supporting business growth and change Minimising environmental impact

Mark Chandiram, Client Director for Health & Social care talks through how Computacenter is helping the NHS modernise IT

DELL TECHNOLOGIES

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘PARTNERS’

152

NHS Foundation Trusts across

within the healthcare system to drive

the region, as part of their ambitious

even better patient care.

integrated care system (ICS),

Dr Graham Evans, Chief Digital

the service will be hosted on behalf

Officer who leads on digital strategy

of NENC and Teesside-based North

for the what has become the largest

Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation

ICS in the country comments: “How

Trust. The organisation was awarded

we optimise health services and

a contract funded by the Northern

specifically improve diagnostic

Cancer Alliance in a bid to improve

services for the benefit of the popula-

healthcare through the Digital Care

tion we serve is a key priority.

Programme. The NHS launched its

Our region has become renowned

Long Term Plan for care across

for advances we make within digital

England in January this year, with

technologies and this move will further

a key focus on digital partnership

herald our commitment to the

AUGUST 2019

populations of the North East and North Cumbria.”

James Tromans, Sales Director for Dell Technologies explains more: “Effectively their challenge was a scarcity of pathologists. When you have a geography like the North East and North Cumbria, you’re restricting the amount of people with that skillset — that calibre to do the role — so being able to digitise a lot of that process can help. We’re helping improve real-time access and decision

“ Customers are looking for a safe pair of hands who can provide the glue, the wrap, the service and the implementation to compliment” — James Tromans, Sales Director, Dell Technologie

making with the Isilon platform. We can

153

improve the outcome of people’s lives and diagnosis by up to 40%.

By optimising efficiency and scale

launching for the continuation and

within the NHS, Dell Technologies

improvement of quality healthcare

is committed improving the livelihood

for our regions. We have a strong base

of the nation through its support

to build from and the partnership with

of the healthcare system”.

Dell further enhances our offer

The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System was announced

of the future for those that matter most — our patients”.

by Simon Stevens, Chief Executive

By collaborating with specialist

for the NHS England Improvement

channel partners, Dell Technologies

in June this year. Dr Evans sums up

is able to support vertical industries,

“the ambition and drive for positive

such as the healthcare sector. Com-

change for our ICS has been recog-

putacenter, one of the largest infra-

nised. This digital pathology service

structure service providers in the UK,

is one of many initiatives we are

is a key partner and focuses e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

DELL TECHNOLOGIES

154

AUGUST 2019

$90.62bn Approximate revenue

2016

Year founded

157,000

Approximate number of employees 155

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘HOW DELL TECHNOLOGIES ARE HELPING THE NHS USING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ’ e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

DELL TECHNOLOGIES

on technology and managed services for the skills gap. As a business that provides resources and support services for customer engagement, Tromans highlights trust, integrity, capability and commercial advantages as some of Computacenter’s most desirable qualities, as well as its access to frameworks and solutions.

“Ultimately, it’s about their presence in the marketplace, the fact that it’s a key part of their revenue and where they’re trying to drive more business.

156 Their capability in the data centre business is second to none. They’re very much a safe pair of hands and they tick all the boxes for joint engagement,” he says.

As Dell Technologies continues to work with the NHS, it is aware that culture change within the healthcare industry is part of the evolution.

“The culture change has been quite apparent over the last five years.

People are recognising that you can’t implement and enforce a new system without bringing the staff along with you. You’ve got to get them involved early on so that they understand changes coming down the line, and AUGUST 2019

are able to have an input into what the system will be, how it’s going to be developed and how it’s going to be used. There is a focus on how the industry is going to change the pathways of care on the back of it,” said Norman. The CIO expresses how the firm is making it easier for its customers to work and engage with Dell Technologies. The company has established a network that will enable the NHS to address the innovations it aims to introduce to its operations. “What I want to see as we move forward is the creation of a network between our customers where we can support all of them and help them to share their ideas, turning them in to reality,” Tromans adds.

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158

Ensuring growth through digital transformation at Taco Bar WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY

MANUEL NAVARRO

AUGUST 2019

159

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TA C O B A R

Lars Callebro, CEO of Taco Bar, details the ways in which his company’s restaurants are capturing the digital market

D

uring my 20 years in the restaurant business there has never been such rapid change in customers’ habits and demands

as there is right now, which is both interesting and fun to be a part of,” says Lars Callebro, owner and CEO of Sweden’s Taco Bar. Despite this challenging environment, Callebro’s company, which offers Tex 160

Mex cuisine, is growing at a healthy rate. Six new restaurants have opened in the past year, adding to its existing stable of over 40 locations across Sweden. Such growth is actually two-fold, encompassing both the aforementioned physical locations but also the ever-expanding digital market.

PHYSICAL One of the factors enabling Taco Bar’s continuing growth is its implementation of the franchise model.

“Franchisees have a five-year deal with us,” explains Callebro. “They pay royalties and marketing fees which gives them access to our menu, our concept and our supply chain.” The system rests on the mutual benefit of franchisor, franchisee and suppliers, and Callebro is clear that growth can never be achieved at the expense of existing franchisees: “Taco Bar’s AUGUST 2019

kr240mn Approximate revenue (SEK)

1983

Year founded

300+

Approximate number of employees

goals for the future are continued growth, opening Taco Bar restaurants in new markets and, most importantly, taking care of the franchisees that we already have within the system. If we do that, we’ll continue to grow.”

Taco Bar also credits its culture as vital to its success. “The guest experience is relaxed, casual and informal,” says Callebro. “Taco Bar is a place where everyone is welcome, a place where you and your friends, family or business partners can have an affordable meal and a drink without e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

161

TA C O B A R

162

“ If a customer would like to sit in their office or in a park, order food and have it brought to them, the app will be there” — Lars Callebro, CEO and Owner, Taco Bar

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘TACO BAR – OM OSS’ 163

needing to book in advance. You can

and their operational procedures,

pop in for 15 minutes or you can be

but it’s also about ensuring everyone in

there for an hour and a half if you would

the Taco Bar family understands what

like.” It might at first seem that a

Taco Bar is about. When it comes to our

consistent culture is at odds with a

restaurants, it’s very much about time

franchise model, but Taco Bar puts

spent on the floor, shoulder to shoulder

the effort in to ensure a welcoming

with our franchisees and partners.”

atmosphere is a constant across

Such attention to detail extends to

its locations. “Spreading the culture

the company’s supply chain, which

is very important and we put a lot

Callebro says is crucial to the company’s

of money and hours into that part of

authentic DNA. “We source our corn

the organisation. We have a strong

nacho chips from a plant in Pennsylvania.

operations department in order to be

They’re made from stone ground fresh

able to fully support our franchisees

corn especially for us. Our tortillas are e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

BRINGING PEOPLE ER TOGETHER FOR A BETTER LD WORLD We’re building a company to last, brewing beer and building brands that will continue to bring people together for the next 100 years and beyond. With centuries of brewing history, we’ve seen countless new friendships, connections and experiences built on a shared love of beer.

We are AB InBev We are the world’s largest brewer with over 500 beer brands globally. We are committed to driving growth and improving the lives of more people in more places. Through brands and experiences that bring people together.

Through our dedication to brewing the best beer with the finest, natural ingredients and through our commitment to helping farmers, retailers, entrepreneurs and communities grow.

Beer is the original social network With centuries of brewing history, we have seen countless new friendships, connections and experiences built on a shared love of beer. We connect with consumers through culturally relevant movements and the passion points of music, sports and entertainment.

Our portfolio now offers more than 500 brands and eight of the top 10 most valuable beer brands worldwide, according to BrandZ™.

Sustainability is our business Brewing quality beer starts with the best ingredients. Without a healthy and sustainable environment, we would not be able to brew the highest quality beers. That is why we have made global commitments focused on smart agriculture, water stewardship, renewable energy, plastic pollution, circular packaging and climate action, to help contribute to a healthy natural environment and thriving communities, so we can continue to brew beers that bring people together for the next 100+ years.

Honoring the past, building towards the future We are all brewers. By combining over 600 years of brewing heritage with constant innovation, we protect the heritage of our much-loved brands while constantly innovating and creating new and exciting beers and occasions for consumers.

Collaboration with Taco Bar We are a proud strategic partner of Taco Bar. Together we want to deliver the best possible experiences towards the consumers by offering high valuable and premium brands. Throughout our partnership, we want to become more than a beer supplier. Our job is to constantly challenge ourselves to deliver great brand activations, to identify new ways to improve rate of sales and to provide brands that fit to the right audience of Taco Bar. Dreaming big is in our DNA and we like to share our energy with each of our partner. Brewing the world’s most loved beers, building iconic brands (such as Corona, Stella Artois and Budweiser) and creating meaningful experiences are what energize and inspire us. We empower our people to push the boundaries of what is possible. Through hard work and the strength of our teams, we can achieve anything for our consumers, our people and our communities.

Christophe Stevens, Area Director Nordics

Connect with us

TA C O B A R

166

bought from a bakery in Atlanta,

ingredients, it also plays into the

Georgia, and our guacamole is made

company’s focus on sustainability.

for us in Uruapan, Mexico. Our pulled

Taco Bar operates on a low waste

beef is made in a special factory here

model, serving its food on china and

in Stockholm, with carefully sourced

drinks in glasses, moving away from

meat from Uruguayan cows that are

plastic to paper, and carefully sorting

grain fed for 120 days. It’s put into an

any waste that is created. Recently,

oven for 22 hours, and barbecued

the company has seen success with

over hickory wood on a BBQ cooker

vegetarian offerings: “We have over

specially bought from the US – that’s

250 different dishes that you can have

what makes Taco Bar’s food special.”

as a vegetarian, and our vegan shake

Not only does this responsible

has been a tremendous success

sourcing ensure the quality of its

on social media.”

AUGUST 2019

167

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Lars Callebro, CEO In 2009, Lars Callebro led a management buyout of the company from Nordic Service Partners, bringing three colleagues with him to become partners in the firm.

After the buyout, Taco Bar was re-imagined with a new design, logo, and menu that included alcoholic drinks.

Lars was formerly Director of Business Development at Nordic Service Partners, and before that worked in different management positions at Svenska McDonald’s. He began his career in the Swedish army, serving as an officer for 14 years.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

TA C O B A R

“ Taco Bar’s goals for the future are continued growth, opening Taco Bar restaurants in new markets and, most importantly, taking care of the franchisees that we already have” — Lars Callebro, CEO and Owner, Taco Bar

168

AUGUST 2019

169

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

While we measure our negative impact on the environment in terms of a carbon ‘foot’ print, we see ‘hand’ prints as being all the positive things we do to help the environment.

To us, hand prints are things like good animal welfare, well considered crop rotations, biogas and solar panels. Right now we are working hard to become Carbon Net Zero.

Us Arla farmers will work together with our customers to achieve this. We want our customers, just like Taco Bar Sweden, to feel secure that they have made a sustainable choice by choosing dairy products from Arla.

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FOR THE LOVE OF VEGO’ 171

“ Convenience is very important for the future guests of Taco Bar, so we’ll continue to invest in digital consumerisation” — Lars Callebro, CEO and Owner, Taco Bar

DIGITAL “The biggest challenge right now is the digital transformation happening in the retail sector,” says Callebro. “It’s not the case that today there are 100 people on the street and tomorrow there’ll be 50 people – but it is going from 100 to a figure like 90. We needed to grab a piece of that digital market, and we have done that very successfully.” Part of the company’s continuing efforts in this sector has been the development of an app, in partnership with suppliers and others, that allows Taco Bar customers to order and pay inside the e uroa pe nz .busi ne ssc h hief. ief. com

TA C O B A R

“ The biggest challenge right now is the digital transformation happening in the retail sector” — Lars Callebro, CEO and Owner, Taco Bar

172

restaurant or in advance of their arrival.

Callebro sees such conveniences as crucial to the company’s continued success. “If a customer would like to sit in their office or in a park, order food and have it brought to them, the app will be there for them, or they can use it to beat the line and take it away themselves. Convenience is very important for the future guests of Taco Bar, so we’ll continue to invest in digital consumerisation.”

Taco Bar leverages its partnerships with a number of innovative technology companies to improve the experience of its customers. Teaming up with delivery companies like UberEats, Hungrig, AUGUST 2019

Delivery Heros and others is another way Taco Bar offers its customers the convenience they desire. “This is a strategically important area for us to grow within the digital space,” says Callebro, also detailing Taco Bar’s partnership with Leeroy on a datadriven, unified point of sale system.

“Leeroy is our point of sale partner and we are evaluating them and others regarding our app that we hope to launch within six to 12 months.”

It is through the twin considerations of physical and digital that Taco Bar has succeeded in growing throughout Sweden. Its ongoing digital transformation has set the company up to capture the digital market without neglecting its physical locations. Such has been its success within the country that the future holds expansion outside of its borders. “We are constantly evaluating new markets,” says Callebro. “It’s in our long-term business plan to establish Taco Bar outside of the country, so we will continue to search for good partners to expand.”

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173

174

AXA Poland: peoplefocused digital transformation in Poland’s insurance sector

WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

175

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AXA POLAND

Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA Poland, discusses the people-led strategy that is defining its digital transformation success

A

s an insurance provider with global reach, the digital transformation of AXA Group positively benefits its customers at every

stage of their lives. The company’s decentralised model for particular countries and territories has enabled it to maximise its relevance and competitivity wherever it hangs its cap. AXA Poland is no 176

exception and, as part of AXA’s International and New Markets (INM) group, comprised of over 25 countries in emerging and high growth markets, it benefits from shared best practices that serve as accelerators in greenfield projects. In tandem with the augmentation of tried and true practices from elsewhere in the group, and strategically applied Agile and Scrum methodologies, AXA Poland’s digital transformation has been influenced significantly by a focus on catering to the Polish market. “Since the 1990s, there has been an acceleration of the economy in Poland, and so it’s quite an active adopter of digitalisation,” says Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA Poland, highlighting the prevalence of mobile first as a leading digital option for the company’s customers. “We have observed that, as its banking AUGUST 2019

“ One of our key challenges now is reinvesting in our people, in IT education, and skilling people differently” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland

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AXA POLAND

industry is already quite digitalised,

the transformation’s potential success

Poland is one of Europe’s faster adop-

is limited. “A few years back, we were

ters of new payment methods, such as

moving forward with technology –

contactless credit cards and phone-

there was clear progress also from

based payments. In fact, whatever the

methodologies like Agile – but we

age category, mobile is first in Poland.”

were missing one big element: how

While this focus on the market and

to reskill at the same time and pace

customers is crucial for defining the

our people. In fact, with technology

appropriate strategy for AXA Poland’s

accelerating, we had to question why

digital transformation, Schemberg

we were not changing how our people

places pivotal importance on both

operate,” says Schemberg. “One of

methodology and change management.

our key challenges now is reinvesting

Without establishing a potent and

in our people, IT education and skilling

efficient basis of operations, he says,

people differently.” In recognising the

178

AUGUST 2019

importance of doing so, AXA Poland is

and 85,000 IT specialists, and the

reaping the benefits of a transformation

universities cannot produce this

where its staff can take full advantage

volume at the rate that is needed.”

of the new solutions. “Because of

In addition to addressing this challenge

these changes there is much more

by providing specialised training,

empowerment on the business side,

AXA Poland has begun training non-IT

and this is where many companies

people in Java programming. AXA

today are lagging behind.”

Poland has also partnered with Indian

Schemberg notes that this is not

IT outsourcing specialist Hexaware.

solely a strategic issue: the global

“Looking at the big lack of IT profes-

shortfall in data specialists and

sionals in Poland, Hexaware decided

associated experts is no less appar-

to create a new model of nearshoring

ent in Poland. “If you look at the Polish

in Warsaw, blending the Indian team

market, we’re lacking between 50,000

and Polish team to fit local customer 179

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AXA POLAND

180

needs,” says Schemberg. “One model

productivity, efficiency and quality,”

doesn’t fit all, so it is important to partner

he says, adding that it also enables the

with a company that has the capacity

firm to leapfrog development of some

to adapt its model of execution, such

legacy systems by simply infusing them

as with Hexaware reinventing the near

with automated capabilities. “It’s been

shoring concept.”

quite successful,” says Schemberg.

With strong, people-oriented

“We already have two operational RPA

foundations laid, AXA Poland can

solutions, and we have between 10

maximise the value of its digitalisation

and 15 that are still in development.”

projects. One such example that

This cutting-edge technology is

Schemberg highlights is the application

joining Tia Technology’s solutions

of robotic process automation (RPA)

on the back-end of AXA Poland’s

to many of its back-end processes.

operations. The Danish company

“RPA offers a mix between added

has accrued a significant share of the

AUGUST 2019

market, with its solutions found across

discussions about how the firm will

all major insurance players in Poland.

support the upgrades of its local

“Tia’s platform is our key asset for the

installations, as well as managing

Policy Insurance system for P&C Retail

cloud strategy evolution in the Polish

and Commercial Lines,” explains

market whilst taking all requirements

Schemberg. “Tia has a very solid

defined by our local Authority of

architecture with a strong back-end

Control. Understanding local challenges

platform, and it is developing additional

is a clear advantage for shaping the

capabilities to offer front-end, process

role of core back-end operations’

design and Business Intelligence

evolution to a very open architecture

solutions. This will be very interesting

model.” Schemberg notes that

for the greenfield operations and for

Poland’s cloud infrastructure is highly

consideration in the upgrade strategy.

regulated, with requirements including

We held the Tia Polish User Group in

backup capacity in case of service

June, allowing us to have very candid

disruption necessitating on-premise

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Olivier Schemberg Schemberg has 30 years’ experience in IT in various positions, having spent the last 10 years as CIO in Insurance and Direct Business in Europe and Asia. He is passionate to understand the acceleration of technology and how this is transforming the way we his firm can support and cooperate with businesses as one team, whilst also understanding how it is influencing and transforming its target operating model and moving to Agile at scale. After almost five years spent in Japan, he is experienced in change management in a country well known for evolution without strong disruption. Schemberg has strong interpersonal and communication skills across diverse languages and cultures in Europe and Asia. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

181

Automate Everything, Cloudify Everything, Transform Customer Experience Leading Transformation Initiatives for Global Insurers Insurers around the globe currently face unprecedented challenges: interest rates jeopardize life business, insuretechs disrupting the non-commercial markets, user expectations of new customer generations clash with most monolithic operating and selling models of traditional insurers, to name a few. However, also a large amount of insurers comprehend this almost stuck situation as a chance: creating a total new customer experience through embedded mobile solutions and next-gen products, fully renovating the

core insurance systems and processes, connecting the new eco systems into the legacy world via API strategies and gaining back agility through massive (robotics based) automatization and cloud first strategy all across infrastructure, applications and even business processes.

Together with almost 20 insurers of all sizes around the globe Hexaware has innovated and helped its customers achieving significant both top-line as well as bottom-line improvements, leapfrogging

their competitive edge. We drive shortterm gains through automation with hundreds of bots, unleashing a new potential of human resources into digital projects, transforming core business as a partner of Guidewire, the de-facto platform for transforming P&C business. With cloudifying and automation of IT operations and developing and testing applications in bizdevops environment we give back the highly needed agility to our customers, enabling them to instantaneously react on market changes.

WATCH: DIGITIZATION OF INSURANCE VALUE CHAIN

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AXA POLAND

2006

Year founded

1,600

Approximate number of employees

Warsaw, Poland Headquarters

Solutions at the speed of life We address the needs of insurers who want to bundle and market services for more efficient customer engagement - swiftly reaching customers in their daily life. www.tiatechnology.com +45 7022 7620 tia@technology.com

185 resources. That being said, the Polish government is taking steps to strengthen cloud environments for enterprises undergoing digital transformation.

“The Polish government is building the ‘Polish National Cloud’, a new environment located in Poland that will offer the capacity for services to move to the cloud whilst simultaneously answering key requirements defined by the local Authority of Control.”

In terms of leveraging digital transformation for the benefit of its partners, Schemberg says AXA Poland has taken a similarly conscientious

“ Since the 90s, there has been an acceleration of the economy in Poland, and so it is quite an active adopter of digitalisation” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

AXA POLAND

“ In a digital transformation, you need to deliver what will be adopted by the customer” — Olivier Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO), AXA Poland 186

approach. “We can see that the evolution

Poland and a digital-focused player.

of the digitalisation is not only for the

It’s very interesting to work closely

benefit of the customer, but also for

with such an organisation, because on

the partners. For Property and Life

one hand you have traditional resist-

businesses, partners expect a digital

ances to moving to digital, and on the

integration with their system,” explains

other you have digital solutions being

Schemberg. “Paper processes between

used to get back to some human

partners are going to disappear. We

interaction where there is added value.

are increasingly connecting through

This is a fascinating balance.”

our APIs, a toolbox to plug in with the

Looking forward, Schemberg says

partner, and we’re connected to all

the company is looking to incorporate

of our partnered banks in this way.

data and analytics enabled insights to

We have a strategic partnership with

a significantly higher degree. “I think

mBank; the fourth largest bank in

the leveraging of data at the company

AUGUST 2019

187

will accelerate and, as part of our

to deliver what will be adopted by the

step-by-step environment development,

customer. If you are still using this old

we are investing in improving data

style of thinking – undergoing a digital

quality, control and governance,”

transformation but not thinking from

he says, adding that consistently tying

the customers’ point of view, that the

these developments into identifiable

process should not last more than one

business use cases is vital to success.

minute, or things to that effect – you

This mantra of strategically implementing

are probably out of the game.”

the most beneficial solutions ultimately links back to AXA Poland’s commitment to its customers. “In a digital transformation, you need to deliver what will be adopted by the customer.

“In a digital transformation, you need e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

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A look inside GarantiBank’s mammoth digital transformation WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

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G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

GarantiBank International N.V. is showing how a real digital transformation is done

L

ast year, 85% of banks said that implementing a digital transformation programme was a “business priority” according to the

EY Global Banking Outlook. Perhaps nowhere can this be seen better than at GarantiBank International 190

N.V. Amid a flurry of digital disruption in the banking space, the Amsterdam-headquartered company has held its own, embarking on a root-and-branch digital transformation strategy.

A subsidiary of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (Garanti), GarantiBank is striving to become a shining example of a modern, digitalised bank.

But make no mistake, this isn’t a fleeting initiative.

Rather, this is an intensive multi-year project which has seen the company revamp its back-office infrastructure, tap into the power of data, foster innovative ways of working and much more.

“When you’re embarking on a digital transformation project, it’s not something that you can do overnight. It takes multiple years to transform an organisation with the size of GarantiBank,” explains Chief Digital Officer, Alex Hurkmans.

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G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

“ When you’re doing a digital transformation project, it’s just something that you cannot change overnight” — Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer, GarantiBank

“We realised we needed to focus on our IT capabilities first. But ultimately, we had to transform the whole organisation and adopt a more digital way of working.” Through its latest strategy, GarantiBank has worked diligently to focus on where it, as a financial service provider, can add real value.

Company leadership quickly realised that overseeing IT infrastructure wasn’t a core activity and could be better managed by an external specialist.

Therefore, GarantiBank forged a partnership with Belgium-based

192

company Cegeka. “We wanted to make use of existing services in the market and add our own value on top of that,” observes Hurkmans.

A notable milestone in the company’s digital transformation has been its shift towards a hybrid cloud environment.

Cegeka helped the Dutch bank set up this infrastructure, drawing upon the capabilities of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. “We decided to opt for a cloud-first strategy and we were one of the first banks that were really making full use of the public cloud for bank processes and client databases,” recalls Chief Operating Officer Marco AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘GARANTI BANK ENGLISH VERSION SD’ 193 Witteveen, noting how, before that,

challenge: reimagining the way its

the organisation ran its very own data

employees are working and teams are

centre. “We were spending almost

collaborating. With Cegeka’s help, it set

60-70% of our IT capacity just keeping

up a new digital workplace for more

the lights and it wasn’t bringing real

than 250 bank employees based on

added value to our customers,” echoes

Microsoft Office 365. This has proven

Hurkmans, adding that the company

to be a hit and has helped the bank

ultimately selected Cegeka to manage

meet the demands of its digitally-savvy

its IT infrastructure and act as the com-

and remote workers. “When we started,

pany’s cloud integrator. This involved

our workspace was still running on our

thorough risk assessments and approv-

old data centre and people had fixed

als, but now GarantiBank is reaping the

desks,” remembers Hurkmans. “We

rewards of its investment.

asked ourselves: what if we embraced

With a hybrid cloud strategy now in place, GarantiBank set about its next

the fast-emerging concept of ‘working anywhere, anytime’?” The Dutch bank e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

N W

E z

In close cooperation As a family-owned IT solutions provider founded on craftsmanship, we work in close cooperation with our customers.

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We help organizations create frictionless and highly personalized experiences for their customers, consumers and citizens.

Find us:

“ We decided to opt for a cloud-first strategy” — Marco Wittevee, Chief Operating Officer, Garantibank

collaborate and share information.

“It also fosters a more collaborative way of working,” he adds, noting how the company’s increasingly use of communication tools like MS Teams, “has improved our efficiency enormously and supports our agile way of working”.

GarantiBank’s digital strategy marks a fundamental departure from how the company used to operate. To further

adopted a more modern workspace

bolster this innovative approach, the

based on Microsoft 365 and imple-

Dutch company has increasingly

mented remote, portable devices,

championed new processes and

so that if employees were commuting

methodologies like Lean, Agile and

or not in the office they can still

Six Sigma. “To enhance our customer

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Marco Witteveen, Chief Operating Officer Mr Marco Witteveen started his professional life in 1985 as a management trainee at ING Bank, London. During his 30-year banking career, Witteveen held various positions with ING in Jakarta, London and New York, and also worked at NIBC Bank as the Managing Director of Technology and Operations.

Specialties: Managing Operations, ICT, and Project Offices in Banking as COO/CIO.

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195

G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

196

experience, stimulate internal collabora-

“We adopted the bi-modal IT architec-

tion and ensure that work can be done

ture of Gartner where Outsystems

anywhere and anytime we started to

is positioned as our system of engage-

move away from silos towards a holistic

ment (fast IT) and our current mono-

approach of end-to-end processes

lithic core banking system is minimised

by appointing process owners and

to just a system of record. We call this

digitising underlying end-to-end

‘caging the animal’ or significantly

processes with the support of Outsys-

reducing the dependency on legacy,”

tems. a low-code platform running in

Witteveen continues.

the AWS public cloud that has proven

In fact, over the past two years,

that it can accelerate our digital

Hurkmans underlines how the company

ambitions” explains Witteveen.

has “run more than hundred sprints

AUGUST 2019

â‚Ź90Mn Approximate revenue

1990

Year founded

260

Approximate number of employees

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer Mr Alex Hurkmans started his professional career in 1996. Since then, he has held various positions in several dutch banks and insurance companies to implement organisational change programs and align corporate governance, technology and culture.

Highly experienced with People management, process management, governance, architecture and cultural aspect with respect to transformation and change.

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197

and already delivered lots of functionality for the whole client lifecycle management.” Hurkmans also points out how GarantiBank recently reorganised its IT department and adopted a DevOps approach, whereby it focused less on infrastructure and more on value-adding projects. “Before I joined, we did one or two IT projects per year on average,” Witteveen recalls. “In the last two and a half years, we now do around 18 to 20 projects each year and they’re also bigger and more complex. We’ve achieved this just by adopting DevOps and an agile AUGUST 2019

“ Continuous improvements and continuous change go hand in hand” — Marco Wittevee, Chief Operating Officer, Garantibank

199 way of working” As the speed of

of slowing down. Looking forward,

innovation continues at its blistering

the Dutch bank is readying itself

pace, Hurkmans points out how this

to launch a corporate internet platform

has helped to promote a sense of

and Hurkmans also highlights how

continuous improvement too. “With

the standardisation of end-to-end

the appointment of process owners

processes is helping GarantiBank

and close alignment with scrum

to prepare for the rise of Open Banking.

masters, IT and business colleagues

“In the coming years, we need to have

are closer together working for only

infrastructure that supports Open

real clients . We can also adjust during

Banking so that we can quickly use all

the sprint, which ensures we’re always

the new technologies and market

innovating and adapting in a never-

platforms that will be developed in

ending loop,” he explains.

the years to come,” he says. “It empha-

Garanti Bank’s digital strategy is in full swing and shows no signs

sises the necessity of being open and data-driven with standardised processes. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

G A R A N T I B A N K I N T E R N AT I O N A L

200

“ Digital transformation isn’t just about IT, it’s a transformation of the entire organisation” — Alex Hurkmans, Chief Digital Officer, GarantiBank AUGUST 2019

You should be able to link yourself to other players in the market. Don’t see them as competitors but rather see them as being part of an ecosystem. If we can do that successfully, I think we’ll do a great job.” Elsewhere, Witteveen points out how senior management will continue to steer the direction of the company by creating multi-disciplinary teams and giving clear guidance. “We are looking for a completely different skillset and we’ve decided to invest heavily in the people that are already working at GarantiBank International N.V.,” he adds. Regardless of the initiative though, it’s apparent that GarantiBank is in the midst of great change which will redefine the business for years to come. Indeed, as Hurkmans affirms: “Digital transformation isn’t just about IT, it’s a transformation of the entire organisation.”

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202

AXA International and New Markets: Customer-focused Tech and Data transformation across the globe WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2019

203

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A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

Kuldeep Kaushik, COO at AXA INM, discusses the Tech and Data strategies driving a customer centric transformation across its global entities

I 204

n the age of digital transformation, global insurance provider AXA has adopted a decentralised approach to innovation.

AXA International and New Markets (AXA INM) takes charge of AXA’s operations in emerging and developing markets, covering Eastern European territories, Latin America, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Africa, India, Singapore, Malaysia and more. “There’s a significant amount of Transformation to deliver across the 20-25 entities,” says Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating and Transformation Officer at AXA INM. “We have very different maturity levels across the businesses and very different technology landscapes as well. Part of my role is evaluating each of those entities and defining programmes which are specific to their maturity, business strategy, and needs and capabilities.” While AXA INM has an overarching transformation strategy, Kaushik notes that this is open to deviations where necessary. “We have key AUGUST 2019

205

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A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

“ We’re focusing on solutions that are keeping the customer in the middle of all solutions we design” 206

— Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets

areas from a strategy perspective that everybody needs to follow and have a roadmap on. However, if there are scenarios where regulations are not evolving fast enough, certain providers aren’t present locally, or we do not have a strategy in place to build local solutions, we do make exceptions at that point.”

In terms of the core principles being driven at a group-wide level, Kaushik says there are seven key pillars being addressed: Legacy and technical debt, Cloud, the Partnership and Customer Service ecosystem, Big Data, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), People Capabilities, and Information Security.

Each of these pillars can face regulatory and infrastructural hurdles, but AXA INM’s ability to tailor its approach to wildly differing markets is reaping dividends. The Move to the Cloud initiative is a particular challenge when it comes to local regulation in some of AXA INM’s countries, Kaushik explains.

“If you look at our geographical spread, we have entities which have quite strict regulatory constraints. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), for example, has regulatory limitations from a public

AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AXA’S 2018 INTEGRATED REPORT’ 207 cloud perspective and in terms of moving

answering the crucial question of the

data out of the country.” In terms of

authority of control. In an interview

negotiating a concern of this magnitude,

with FinTech Magazine, Olivier

the firm must consider both time and

Schemberg, Head of IT (CIO) at AXA

alternative solutions.

Poland, said operations will begin to

AXA INM does not want to establish

launch on the Polish National Cloud

any additional on-premises data centre

in summer 2019. In the Middle East,

environments, but territories whose

Kaushik notes, concerns surrounding

public cloud regulations necessitate

cloud strategy were alleviated by

private clouds are changing with the

the adaptations of cloud providers.

times. For example, the Polish

“We might have to make an exception

government is currently developing

in countries where we have regulatory

the Polish National Cloud, a new

data residency challenges and public

environment that will enable enterprises

cloud isn’t available,” he says. “Gulf

to move to a public cloud whilst also

countries, for example, had been e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

208

a concern in this area, but luckily cloud providers have evolved their business strategy and we now have both Azure and AWS (Amazon Web Services) available in the Middle East.”

Cloud maintains a centrality to AXA INM’s transformation plans as a key enabler of other technologies, such as Big Data and AI. Across the group, AXA INM is keen to increasingly leverage data as a means to drive business decisions, enhance customer centricity and build more meaningful relationships with customers.

AUGUST 2019

“ We have very different maturity of the businesses and very different technology landscapes as well” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets

Simultaneously, the firm aims to simplify customer journeys and data input needs from customers, especially for claims processes. “Our CEO is driven from a customer perspective,” says Kaushik.

“We’re focusing on solutions that are keeping the customer in the middle of all solutions we design. For example, we’re significantly focused on making sure that the customer journeys on the sales, servicing and claims sides are streamlined.

In terms of data touchpoints that we expect from the customer, we’re ensuring that we only ask for relevant information at the relevant time.” Not only are

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating and Transformation Officer Kaushik is an engineer with an MBA from HEC Paris, with over 18 years working experience of which nine years have been with AXA. As a result, Kuldeep possesses extensive experience in Life, Savings and Health Insurance businesses, with key contributions in crystallizing the Life, Savings and Health strategy and building new innovative business models in AXA Group. He is currently Chief Operating and Transformation Officer of AXA International and New Markets platform in Madrid

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A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

TRANSFORMATION IS AN ATTITUDE everis is an NTT DATA Company, dedicated to consulting, technology and outsourcing in all sectors, with a turnover of 1.43 billion euros in the last year, with more than 24,500 professionals across Europe, USA and Latin America, and with one goal: transform business all around the world.

Consulting, Transformation, Technology and Operations everis.com

211 customers being asked for less input throughout the process, but new technologies are being applied to simplify how those data inputs can be delivered. “In some of our countries, we can issue a motor insurance quote as long as the customer can upload an image of their driving licence and car registration document. That, for me, is customer centricity: you’re actually delivering solutions which make the life of a customer easier,” enthuses Kaushik. “From a servicing perspective, there are a lot of new technology-driven claims solutions that we have delivered in Turkey, Morocco, Greece and Nigeria,

“ We’re able to survey motor claims using various technologies, such as image recognition, to expedite the claims process” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

A X A I N T E R N AT I O N A L A N D N E W M A R K E T S

for example, that deliver on the spot claims assessments. We’re able to survey accidents using various technologies, such as image recognition, to expedite the claims process as well.”

AI has been brought into the fold to speed up policy issuance as well as enhance the company’s cybersecurity capabilities. Robotic process automation (RPA), combined with AI, has revolutionised the back-end processes of entities across the group, and the positive results for efficiency are manifold. Kaushik offers an example 212

launched in Brazil that has cut policy issuance from weeks to just a single day. “We brought RPA and AI technologies together to deploy a solution that can take the process of policy issuance (which can take around 14-16 days) and turn it around in 24 hours.” he says. “Automation solutions are also being deployed in the security space – we have a sizeable landscape and exposure in terms of digital assets available in various entities, and on a monthly basis we now scan the entire landscape to ensure assets are protected and there are no vulnerabilities.” In addition, the AI-augmented scanning enables AXA AUGUST 2019

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“ It’s full steam execution for the next 18 months to become a truly Tech-Led organization” — Kuldeep Kaushik, Chief Operating Officer, AXA International and New Markets AUGUST 2019

INM to monitor whether any fraudulent assets have been launched across the internet that are aimed at deceiving AXA customers. “There are fake assets popping up across the globe, so we are using automation solutions to identify anything that could put our customers at risk.”

For Kaushik, one of the most exciting things about AXA INM’s work is the ability for emerging markets and entities to leapfrog established solutions and cut

€102.9.bn Approximate revenue

1982

Year founded

125,000

Approximate number of employees

ahead of mature markets. “In Senegal,

capabilities on the distribution side,

for example, you can upload pictures

and it’s about improving our data

of a vehicle and have a quote issued

capabilities. It’s full steam execution

for a motor policy; some of the mature

for the next 18 months to become a

markets don’t have that capability yet,”

truly Tech-Led organisation. Amen!”

he says, adding that we will see some major new projects delivered imminently.

“The next 18 months is about delivery; it’s about getting the legacy and the technical debt reduced to a minimum level. It’s about moving our infrastructure to the cloud, it’s about building digital e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

215

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ASCENDANT RESOURCES rejuvenation through Mining 101 WRITTEN BY

MARCUS LAWRENCE PRODUCED BY

RICHARD DEANE

AUGUST 2019

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ASCENDANT RESOURCES

Chris Buncic, CEO and Co-Founder at Ascendant Resources, discusses the rejuvenation of the El Mochito mine in Honduras and the Mining 101 approach that has powered its success

T

he El Mochito mine, located in the Las Vegas municipality of Honduras and around 88km southwest of San Pedro

Sula, has undergone a dramatic rejuvenation at the 218

hands of Ascendant Resources which acquired the site in December 2016. Under Ascendant’s management, El Mochito’s zinc production has doubled and its revenues are growing rapidly.

Not only that, Ascendant has become the leading miner in Honduras, a country whose mining potential has been sorely overlooked according to CEO Chris Buncic. He earmarks both capital investment and the shift in management styles that defined the takeover as being of vital importance to the mine’s renaissance. “After we closed the acquisition, we set upon a program of optimization and rehabilitation of the asset, as well as retraining operators,” says Buncic. “It was a very peoplefocused change.” In tandem with introducing an array of new equipment – a long overdue endeavor at El Mochito – Ascendant brought the mine to free AUGUST 2019

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ASCENDANT RESOURCES

“ As we ramped up production, people have reaped the benefits through incentives” — Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Ascendant Resources

220

2006

Year founded

$85.6mn Revenue in 2018

1,242

Approximate number of employees

AUGUST 2019

cashflow positivity within a year of closing the deal.

Ascendant has approached the project with a ‘Mining 101’ mentality, zeroing in on the basics to ensure any additional developments are built upon strong and efficient foundations.

“We assembled a new management team that has performed consistently over the last two and a half years, and we replaced nearly all of the underground trackless equipment,” says Buncic. “Some of the trucks and scoops had been subject to as many

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ONE X ONE WITH CHRIS BUNCIC, ASCENDANT RESOURCES PRESIDENT AND CEO’

as four overhauls; in a typical lifecycle,

are staggered over the course of the

this would only have been done twice,

day, and changeovers at the truck

but because of their age we were

underground rather than on surface.

having availability issues. The key

This cuts out travel time, meal times

metrics of the journey have been

and so on, and has resulted in produc-

availability of the equipment and its

tivity time increasing from 15 to 22

proper and consistent utilization.”

hours per day.” Simply adding additional

It is equally essential to have both

work hours is far from the sum of

equipment at hand when it is needed,

Ascendant’s work with its staff. “In the

and trained staff who are available

five years prior to the acquisition, there

to capitalize on it. “We added a fourth

had been six general managers each

shift underground for the truck drivers,

with their own priorities and projects,”

meaning there are now four overlap-

explains Buncic, highlighting the

ping eight-hour shifts. Those shifts

general sense of uncertainty and lack e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

221

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of clear direction to which workers at

They were unhappy with the situation

El Mochito had become accustomed.

before we took over, so we had lots

Not only has the new and successful

of positive benefits come through

management team brought a fresh

that,” says Buncic. “As we ramped up

era of stability, but Ascendant has

production, people have reaped the

also been proactive in its approach

benefits of the higher production

to supporting staff significantly

rates through incentives. Everyone is

improving morale. “In 2017, we

happy in sharing the success of the

renegotiated our collective bargain-

mine, and it’s certainly something

ing agreement with the workers’

we’re happy to continue to foster.”

union, which had been long overdue.

This attentiveness to its employees

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

223

Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder Chris Buncic is one of the founding partners in the formation of Ascendant Resources Inc. and its acquisition of the company’s f lagship operating El Mochito mine from Nyrstar NV in 2016. Prior to cofounding Ascendant, Mr Buncic served in senior management roles at several Canadian corporations in the technology and resources sectors. His depth of experience also includes six years in Institutional Equity Research at leading Canadian independent full-service brokerage firms Cormark Securities Inc. and Mackie Research Capital Corporation.

Mr. Buncic is a CFA Charterholder, has an MBA from Schulich School of Business and B.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto. Mr. Buncic is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario and the CFA Society.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

ASCENDANT RESOURCES

“ We brought in a new management team that has performed consistently over the last three years, and we replaced nearly all of the underground trackless equipment” 224

— Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Ascendant Resources

AUGUST 2019

225

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227

extends to the local municipality

school lunches and environmental

through a range of highly successful

efforts. We have 11,000 hectares of

corporate social responsibility (CSR)

forestland on our property, and we

initiatives. In each of the past 10 years,

do a lot of reforestation and environ-

El Mochito mine has won the prestig-

mental preservation on that land.”

ious Empresa Socialmente Respon-

As for the mine itself, incremental

sible (‘Socially Responsible Busi-

infrastructural upgrades have been

ness’) award from the Foundation for

vital to the leap in production, the sharp

Corporate Responsibility in Hondu-

rise in the quality of the ore produced,

ras (FUNDAHRSE). “We give back

and the efficiency with which that

to communities to a very large deg-

produce is brought to the surface.

ree,” enthuses Buncic. “We operate

“We have been able to access some

a hospital and two schools, and we

new high-grade areas of the mine that

run smaller programs with respect to

were not previously available, and our e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

ASCENDANT RESOURCES

grade has improved materially from 5.3% when we took over the mine to as high at 7% in Q4 2018,” says Buncic. Part of this success can be traced to Ascendant’s Lagoa Salgada mining project in Portugal, itself located within the famed Iberian Pyrite Belt. “At Lagoa Salgada, we conducted gravity and induced polarization (IP) work which we found to be very effective in finding additional anomalies and targets to follow up. We brought the same group that 228

conducted that study over to El Mochito, and their underground, gravity and IP studies have opened up the potential of the western part of the mine.”

In February of this year, the company completed a 700-meter tunnel from the Esperanza ore body in the northwest of the mine to the crusher.

The tunnel provides a more direct route between the sites, circumventing the original winding route comprised of rough terrain. Not only has this opened up a previously unexplored part of the mine and minimized the wear and tear of the associated machinery, but it is emblematic of the AUGUST 2019

“One of the things our team has been good at is identifying new opportunities” — Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Ascendant Resources

229

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231 infrastructural upgrades that have been pivotal in the mine’s rejuvenation.

“It’s a good example of the ways that our team is strategizing as it looks to find high-grade material to bring into the mine plan as soon as possible,” says Buncic.

In the long term, Buncic stresses that Ascendant’s commitment to maximizing the value of El Mochito is far from over. Whilst maintaining the production rates it has achieved, continuing to seek out high-grade ore bodies and evaluating areas where costs can be saved, Ascendant is

“In 2017, we renegotiated our collective bargaining agreement with the workers’ union, which had been long overdue” — Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Ascendant Resources

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

ASCENDANT RESOURCES

232

“ It was a very peoplefocused change” — Chris Buncic, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Ascendant Resources

working hard to boost its profitability per ton. With respect to this, Buncic highlights the expansion plan posited in a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released in October 2018 that seeks to cut costs to below $1 per zinc equivalent pound. The plan is split into three components: opening a more direct mine shaft in the east of the mine; installing a large and efficient water pumping system with

AUGUST 2019

233

clarification capabilities; and expand-

a lot of great opportunities, and we

ing the plant to bring its capacity up

have an excellent network of partners

to an average of 2,800 tons per day,

who want to work with us across the

boosting the mill’s production by 27%

financial gamut as we look to grow

while simultaneously cutting costs by

the company.”

the same margin. “One of the things our team has been good at is identifying new opportunities,” says Buncic.

“We’ve done that with El Mochito, we’ve done it with Lagoa Salgada.

In the mining space today, there are e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

234

Achieving sustainable finance with Refinitiv WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY

CAITLYN COLE

AUGUST 2019

235

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REFINITIV

Refinitiv’s Head of Sustainability, Luke Manning, explains the centrality of the company’s sustainability strategy in inspiring its own practices and informing the products it offers customers

T

he role of finance in sustainability cannot be understated. When capital reaches sustainable enterprises and companies

are rewarded for sustainable behaviour through investment, it is the world that reaps the benefits.

236

Such decisions, however, can only be made in the presence of accurate, understandable information.

Refinitiv is the leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Founded in 2018 out of Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk unit, the company has taken advantage of its rebirth to institute an ambitious sustainability strategy.

At the same time, it is putting sustainability at the heart of its business model, offering customers the sustainability data they need to make the right decisions to drive positive and sustainable business outcomes. Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives, has worked for the company since the Thomson Reuters days and has overseen the positioning of sustainability at the core of the firm’s operations.

AUGUST 2019

237

“ Ensuring sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values is a privileged position to be in” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

REFINITIV

“ Our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’ and that couldn’t be truer for sustainability” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives

“We look at sustainability through two lenses,” says Manning. “The first is how we operate as a business ourselves, and how we measure our own impact. The second is how we drive sustainable behaviour beyond the boundaries of our own footprint.”

Internally, Refinitiv seeks to hold itself to account across a broad range of factors, from efficient use of resources and recycling to community and charity support. “Activities that traditionally sat under a corporate responsibility banner now form part of our sustainability strategy,” explains

238

Manning. Not content with altering its own behaviour, however, Refinitiv looks outward with its concept of ‘Sustainable Leadership’. “We want to make sure we stand ourselves up as a responsible business – but what do we do as a business that also contributes to the greater good?

That’s where AUGUST 2019

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘DATA IS JUST THE BEGINNING’ 239 our data, technology and expertise

energy in the same timeframe,

come in. We have positioned ourselves

and we’re going to reduce our own

at the heart of an ecosystem of change

carbon emissions by, on average,

makers, and use our data to empower

10% every year for the next five years.

investors to shift towards sustainable

We have to hold ourselves to account;

finance. If we can do that, it really starts

we have to put a marker in the ground

to unlock something that is meaningful

that says ‘that’s what we’re aiming

at scale.”

for and this is why we’re aiming for it’.

If you don’t set targets, that’s when

TARGETS

things slip.” As part of its commitment

Internally, Refinitiv has instituted

to representing and supporting

specific, time-dependent targets.

the communities in which it operates,

“We’re going to be carbon neutral by

Refinitiv has also promised to double

2020,” says Manning. “We’re going

its community investment programme

to be 100% powered by renewable

engagement by 2020, as well as have e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

REFINITIV

240

40% of its senior leadership roles filled

ing schoolgirls in India,” he says.

by women.

“That’s where the real, true value

The organisation’s targets dovetail with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but for Manning,

of measuring the impact of those SDGs comes through.”

The spirit of using targets to drive

simple alignment is not enough. “We’re

performance extends to Refinitiv’s

trying to focus on the targets beneath

product offering. “It’s always healthy

the logos. There are 169 underlying

to benchmark performance; ESG

targets, and they are a lot harder to hit.”

is no different,” says Manning.

To achieve this, Refinitiv’s sustainability

“We have over 400 metrics that drive

team coordinates global, centralised

transparency and comparability in the

campaigns as well as local action via

market and that can only be a positive.”

volunteer teams. “It could be beach

Beyond holding companies to account,

cleaning in the Philippines, or mentor-

having an idea of competitors’ perfor-

AUGUST 2019

mance can have a clarifying effect.

On the contrary, some of the challenge

“If you know what you’re comparing

has simply been ensuring that enthusi-

against, you have a frame of reference,

asm translates into definitive action.

and it’s much easier to make a decision.

“There’s absolutely no shortage

What data does is drive clarity, and it’s

of buy-in and support from across

clarity that can drive decisions. If you

the business for the sustainability work

don’t have that data, all you’re really

– right the way through from the CEO

going on is an opinion,” he adds.

to the front line. Every day there are new ideas originating throughout the

CULTURE

business. It’s about how we bottle

Manning hasn’t encountered any lack

up that enthusiasm and keep up the

of appetite for sustainability at Refinitiv.

momentum.” Such is the prominence

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

241

Luke Manning Manning leads the sustainability function for Refinitiv, as part of the global strategy leadership team – developing Refinitiv’s position as a sustainable and responsible business, addressing the effect of its operational and environmental footprint, and harnessing its expertise, technology and data to drive positive social change Formerly a freelance journalist, Manning has subsequently specialised in developing and communicating core business strategies with tangible commercial, reputational and social impact. Prior to his current role, he worked with a number of global organisations in senior leadership and consulting positions, including Thomson Reuters, Balfour Beatty, Barclays Bank and Kier Group.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

REFINITIV

242

“ We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of sustainability-related data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives AUGUST 2019

of sustainability at the company that it even plays a role in attracting talent.

“It’s a given that sustainability is the right thing to do, and that’s what people are demanding now. At every point in the induction lifecycle when people decide to come and work here, these are the questions that come up increasingly frequently: ‘What do you stand for? What are your policies, your goals and your pledges when it comes to environmental and social initiatives?’”

The community nature of sustainability at Refinitiv can in part be credited to its youth. “As a standalone business, we are still brand new,” says Manning.

“We’re not even a year old yet. It’s really a privileged position to be in, to be able to make sure that sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values.” It’s clear that the opportunity has been comprehensively harnessed at Refinitiv, but in line with its dual concept of sustainability, Manning stresses the need for others to do the same, and the company provides the tools to achieve just that.

“Collective action is our mantra for this.

Data underpins the process and e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

243

REFINITIV

our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’.

We have a part to play, but we need to do it with everyone else – whether that’s other businesses, partners, competitors, governments or individuals – we all have to do it together to solve it. We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class.”

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE “Sustainable finance is shifting funding to investments that take more than just 244

financial considerations into account – investments which put a value on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors” says Manning.

Refinitiv offers the tools to make sustainable finance a reality for its customers across a range of ESG

$1.56Mn First quarter revenue ‘19

data and risk products. “If a customer is looking to invest in these sustainable initiatives, we provide the transparent data and analysis to allow comparability. This is fundamental in reorienting capital to sustainable investments.”

The company’s ESG data must overcome some hurdles to achieve parity with its more conventional financial data. “Globally, there’s very AUGUST 2019

2018

Year founded

London Offices

inconsistent reporting on ESG data.

When financial institutions come to weave these data points into their proprietary models, it’s still quite hard to do so unless you provide a degree of standardisation and harmonisation” says Manning. This is where Refinitiv’s work comes to the fore, ensuring that data is transparent, usable and relevant. The more ESG data is used, the more its prominence increases and the higher its quality becomes, as Manning explains: “Now, corporate, regulators, institutional investors and capital rating professionals are all becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ESG data.

That’s driving up the standard as they’ll have to use it day in, day out to get positive financial outcomes.”

Refinitiv is trusted not only to provide this information, but to present it in the manner required by its customers.

“We’re the leading provider of ESG data. We cover 8,000 companies, represent 70% of the global market cap and have over 400 data points included. We also carry information on ESG bonds, loans, carbon and renewables pricing data and financial crime information. This all aggregates e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

245

REFINITIV

to provide a bigger picture,” Manning explains. “For example, we create a composite score consisting of environmental, social and governance pillars, and things like ESG controversies. We take that data, we make it valuable and useful, and then present it in such a way that it can be easily consumed at speed and at scale.” The global reach of Refinitiv’s data has seen the firm partner with organisations including the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Economic 246

Forum. With the latter, they have created the Sustainable Leadership Monitor, an analytics app which allows the measurement of the long—term sustainability progress of publicly listed companies, underpinning

and passion for sustainability, which

Refinitiv’s commitment to providing

itself is integral to the sustainable

the information necessary for collec-

finance products and services

tive leadership and decision making.

it provides. Such clarity of purpose

Ultimately, Refinitiv’s clear and

is vital when facing the rapidly evolving,

comprehensive strategy ensures

unpredictable challenges sustainability

the cause of sustainability is placed

presents. “From an environmental

at the very heart of its business model,

perspective, it’s clear that we have this

with the values it holds being translated

increasingly narrow window to address

into clear goals. These goals then help

the threat that we face,” says Manning.

to inform and create the culture

“Current models of consumption

of company-wide participation

and industrialisation are not going

AUGUST 2019

247

to support the exponentially growing

offers the opportunity to resolve

population. If you look at what busi-

that tension and drive outcomes

nesses face, particularly, there’s

that are positive in both a sustainable

a new paradigm that requires the

and business sense.

creation of long-term practices that respect the environment, the wellbeing of employees and the prospects of future generations, whilst still making money, improving profitability, funding innovation and achieving an increased market share.� Refinitiv’s implementation of sustainable finance e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

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