In a changing environment, adaptation is essential to get ahead. In the case of companies, the digital transformation of the business has become a practically inevitable response to this situation. So much so, that a Google report places Spain as one of the countries that has best capitalized on the increase in e-commerce caused by the pandemic, with a 41% growth in sales.
The opportunity of artificial intelligence
How to undertake the necessary transformation process when changes occur at a stratospheric speed? Is it really possible to update the business if every day there is a new change?
In this fast-paced context, businesses need the help of tools that allow them not only to adapt their strategies and processes to an increasingly digital environment, but also to make the most of their potential. Artificial intelligence is one of the most powerful and transversal. In fact, it can become the key to the success of the digital transformation of companies.
Artificial intelligence to solve business challenges
Globant, a unicorn born in Argentina, today a technology multinational listed on the NYSE with a valuation of around USD 9B. It is also one of those companies that are dedicated to accompanying others in a comprehensive digital transformation. They teach them, among other things, to get the most out of artificial intelligence. A tool that Globant uses to produce technology capable of solving business challenges.
Federico Pienovi, its CBO for the EMEA region, is clear about it: “companies need to equip themselves with skills that give them knowledge and muscle to be able to reinvent their businesses, their user experiences, redefine processes, evolve their heavy technological legacies… They need to create that competitive advantage that allows them to lead their industries and continue to be relevant to their customers.”
It is about companies being able to redefine and boost their entire value chain. It is what Globant defines as "Augmented Organizations" or "Augmented Organizations", in which artificial intelligence plays a fundamental role in achieving this comprehensive transformation.
A unique digital experience
Perhaps one of the most common mistakes among companies undertaking a digitization process is to reduce that change to what appears on a screen. The digital customer experience cannot, in this case, be limited to just a simple visual interface or to reduce the number of steps required to complete a process.
In reality, it is about generating a closer relationship with the customer in all channels regardless of which one they choose to access the products or services offered by the brand. Also that this relationship is personalized to the millimeter and that it adapts to the specific needs of that client.
“To have a leading digital experience, companies need to continue to invest in technology and attack the problem fully,” emphasizes Pienovi. According to the expert, this effort ranges from updating or migrating legacy systems to cloud native systems that allow great scalability, to the company's data strategy. They constitute the base on which all experience personalization strategies will be built and on which new business models will be based.
From there, it is about continuing to climb the different layers of technology that make up an app or service until finally reaching the digital channels or products. This would be the key to defining a unique experience.
Smart sustainability
Among the areas of transformation of an organization, where artificial intelligence has a lot to say, sustainability stands out. An issue that has become increasingly strategic for organizations, given the specific weight it has gained in recent times for issues as important as attracting investors or talent.
In this sense, Globant offers a specific product to organizations, called Sustainability Studio. It combines digital technology and sustainability to help organizations take a problem-solving approach based on the 2030 Agenda to achieve truly responsible business operation.
“Artificial intelligence helps, first of all, as an accelerator of any sustainability measure based on data, KPIs or standards. In general, artificial intelligence makes it easier for us to identify trends. It does so both in innovation and in prediction for development in sustainable finance, the development of climate models or even in questions of social response to strategies”, indicates Pienovi.
Business culture
An essential part of the transformation of a company has to do with the creation and expansion of its own culture, which talent must internalize. The management of human resources and teams thus becomes more important than ever.
This is an issue that, when mixed with the use of artificial intelligence, can be contentious, but if properly managed it can offer significant benefits to a company. At Globant, where more than 17,250 professionals work in 18 countries, they have already been able to verify it
“Since the company began, we have developed an operating system for the organization —called StarmeUp— that encourages our employees to interact, send feedback and recognition digitally”, details Federico Pienovi. The purpose of these interactions is to determine how relationships are woven in the company, both between employees and between offices and teams.
At this point, artificial intelligence allows Globant and companies that already use StarmeUp to predict situations that would otherwise be difficult to capture in companies whose size makes it difficult to know the situation of each employee in real time. “This allows us to identify when employees lose or change the way they interact with their colleagues, allowing us to intervene proactively to improve the situation of each of our employees,” adds Pienovi.
Opportunity vs. threat
Another of the sensitive points in the relationship between artificial intelligence and talent is the possible assumption of tasks that until now were carried out by humans. At this point, the key is to look at technology as a friend, rather than a threat. Far from destroying employment, artificial intelligence can serve to increase the capabilities of an employee.
“The key is to take our capabilities to where we are really good and take advantage of the positive aspects of this technology, which in no way replaces human intelligence”, defends Federico Pienovi.
As a consequence of this approach, artificial intelligence in companies helps move people to tasks with greater added value. Manual, repetitive and low-value jobs thus remain in the hands of robotic processes that also have much lower failure rates.
For Pienovi, it is ultimately about thinking of AI “as a tool that can increase your capabilities, propose new solutions, new services and elevate you in the value that you are going to give to the organization as an employee and as an agent of change for the good."
The office of the future
With this scenario, what will the workplaces of the future look like? From Globant they are committed, first of all, to diversity. A diversity that will need to be managed efficiently.
“The office of the future is diverse, in all its meaning. It is a place where diversity is seen and lived”, predicts Federico Pienovi. It is a multifaceted diversity, which will affect places, roles, cultures, technologies and the different personalities of the talent. “The office of the future is more in the form of an ecosystem than an office. A diverse, organic and increased ecosystem”, the expert abounds.
Managing complexity
And how do you manage such a complex reality? At Globant they have opted for what is known as Studios, centers where specific technological knowledge is mixed with agile multidisciplinary teams.
“This organization by Studios is a great competitive advantage”, emphasizes Pienovi. “We already have 27 distributed in the countries where we operate and each year we add a new one in response to the knowledge needs generated by the market. The Studios are the ones that contain the knowledge of Globant. When we have to do a project, we combine several of these teams. In such fast technological dynamics, if you don't have the flexibility that these Studios give you, you lose relevance”, he explains.
The digital transformation of companies must be conceived as a global process that reaches the most diverse aspects. In this way, it will become the reliable and sure path of success that every company aspires to undertake.