Turning Rocks Into Gems: Building Global Data Operations with German Faraoni Heidenreich of Reckitt

Speaker A: Today we have the ability to pay attention to so many things and therefore there is the fight for the attention. So then the ability to refocus now starts becoming an interesting skill.

Speaker B: Welcome to the Disruptive Innovators Champions of Digital Business podcast where IT and digital leaders from around the world talk about their careers, their inspiration and their vision for the future of digital business. Hi, I'm your host, David Wright. The world of digital business is evolving faster than ever and I want this to be a place where digital business champions create a village to band together and help each other navigate the ever changing terrain. Disruptive Innovators features conversations with CIOs and digital leaders from around the world, diving into their personal backstory, career, their current role trends they've been seeing, and their vision for the future, personally, professionally and otherwise. This podcast is made for people who are seeing how quickly the digital business landscape is evolving. Those who recognize that it takes a village of trusted advisors to navigate this ever changing terrain. People who enjoy listening to high level discussions surrounding what it means to be a leader, real world examples of challenges faced and industry specific strategies leveraged to create exceptional business outcomes. This episode is brought to you by Disruptive Innovations, a leading tech consulting firm that helps enterprise organizations with their IT strategy, process optimization and workflow improvement. Contact them and find out more@, uh, disruptiveinnovations.net.

Speaker C: Good morning friends. Or good afternoon depending on where you're tuning in from. My name is David Wright and I am the host of the Disruptive Innovators Champions of Digital Business podcast. And today I am lucky, um, enough to be joined by a man of many names, but German or Hermann? Uh, Heidenreich. German. Pleasure to have you on. Thank you for being here.

Speaker A: Thank you, David. Thank you so much. And I actually got it right. I know that being called German Herman, that's a good conversation starter. At the end of the day, being multicultural, like many people. Heliproval that would be listening. It's, it's a good thing. And we can play a little bit with how we pronounce and then we play with our own names. So again, a, uh, pleasure actually to be here and contribute a little bit with my own story.

Speaker C: Love it. I'm excited to get into it and as a New Yorker, you know, we, we are considered a melting pot. It's one of the things that I love so, so much about New York. So excited to have you on and learn a little bit more about you as an executive, as a person. So Herman, for those of our listeners who may not be familiar. Just to start out, would you mind sharing a little bit about your current role?

Speaker A: Yeah. So I work at a consumer goods company is Reckitts and there are brands like Finnish, Lyso, Mucinex so things that actually you would buy on retailers. I have always worked in consumer goods that will be part afterwards of also the conversation. The current role is responsibility for our data strategy, our data platform, creating different type of things that we call data products which fuel analytics and our AI ambitions. On top of that, right now we are entering into a good space of shared services. So I have responsibility for data services as part of shared services. That is very common in big companies. Having um, an interesting set of team that sits in different places. We're growing actually this space. Highly probable that will be part of the learnings, et cetera that we're going to be talking. But the responsibility mainly is around what we do with data and every company today speaks about that because it is what unlocks the wonderful things that are coming with AI and many other things.

Speaker C: 100%. Well, I'm excited to get into all of that. Before we do, first and foremost, we like to start every episode with a question. If there were only one, because I'm sure there will be many. But there only one piece of actionable advice you might look to leave our listeners with today. What might that be?

Speaker A: Yeah, so here's what I would say. I work in a space that is dry data, uh, has a lot to do with tech. My one piece of advice is this is never about tech. Even everything that people might be hearing about AI is not about tech. It is about human impact and how humans will actually behave differently. So pay attention to that regardless in what area you're working, especially if you're in tech. It's not about the tech, it's about the human behavior change that it is happening because of it. So that is my advice. Pay attention to the human change.

Speaker C: The human impact it is, it's such a great reminder. It's something you know, I've had these conversations with with folks like for example in healthcare they're in the weeds of the technology of it because that's their day to day and they get in that monotonous kind of grind and they lose sight of the fact that the work they're doing is affecting the way that patients access care or receive care and how significant that is. Right. So and I think it's going to become even more and more prevalent or something that we have to keep in mind more and more as we Leverage more AI. And AI does do certain functions. It's like, well, okay, what is the. What is the human impact? Or what are. What is the human meant to do? So anyway, great thing to think about to start the episode. German Herman, I want to learn more about you. I know we were talking offline kind of you're from Argentina, but basically how you started out in your career or otherwise, and how you got to the point that you're at today.

Speaker A: Yeah, so I uh, started in Latin America, born and raised in South America in Argentina, like many, many other countries and many people that are going to be watching, listening to the podcast Multicultural. So what that means is at home and uh, what you study, you have always this interest for the rest of the world. So I actually studied electronics over there. I always had an interest of engineering, how things work. Because I realized that at first I wanted to dismantle them and see what happens inside. What's the true magic that brought me to want to actually work for very big companies? Because I see that sizable companies have a very particular set of impacts. Having studied electronics engineering over there, I already started working with another consumer goods giant that is Procter and Gamble in the, um, Latin America business. That was already year 2000. That was before I graduated. I graduated in 02. I was already working full time. And these many years here is also something that I really liked the type of companies, and this is maybe also part of the advice into the human impact etc is they would put you already in front of some type of real responsibility very early in your career. So you start really seeing your impact. Now I see it more back then I was seeing it. No, because it's okay. It's just a job now. I really appreciate that and value. I always wanted actually to continue this kind of career in other places, spend some years working elsewhere. I had the blessed opportunity when actually Procter and Gamble acquired Gillette. That was very big in the industry, like $50 billion worth of an acquisition deal. And I moved to Mexico. Mexico in Latin America for Procter and Gamble. The biggest business plants over there, like really big offices. So that meant growth for me personally. I was realizing that it gave me the opportunity of instead of being in a five people IT team in Procter and Gabriel Argentina, I was part of a, uh, 75 people team organization. So I love divestitures and acquisitions that we had bringing in global capabilities to Latin America. And then I actually encountered the opportunity to work in innovation. These big companies. I mean I understand that not every company will have these areas, but if you have it, this is a fantastic place actually to continue pushing on your curiosity. If IT is working on innovation. Innovation, we're not talking about like the new product that we're going to have. It's how the company operated. Like back then, for example, we're figuring out how to use iPads to run activities in today. Some, um, like a simple device. No, we get it. But back then was disruptive. Like, okay, everything is on this. We used to have something else. So I started in that area and um, then I had the opportunity actually to move to the US so in 11 I went to the central organization that was to innovation globally in Cincinnati, Ohio. Amazing. As part of that innovation that I moved to other areas, working always inside the IT part of shared services in the company and uh, very interesting projects. For example, replatforming how our scientists were going to work or how our engineers at the plants were installing, for example, new devices with all the sensors and gathering information and being able to run analytics and simulation that they were not able to do before. And they needed help on how to get all these things. So amazing years. Fast forward 2023, I was already counting 23 years with just one company. I would say the same pay stuff, but it was 10 careers, honestly.

Speaker C: Wow.

Speaker A: And I had to make a decision. Okay, it's a sweet trap. You are in a location that it is sizable enough that it is important as a city. I was having actually the proper corporate America work style, which I like that resonate very well. Um, but was it going to be it staying here and potentially continue growing and just one company. So I was approached to actually hey by people that actually I even met in PNG before. Said, look, we're actually building the whole data analytics practice, uh, more professionally at Rekit. It's an evolution from what we had. Are you interested in a job in London? They said, yeah, why not? It took some time until I made a decision because of course, I mean 23 years starting sort of from scratch, but it was still in the consumer goods area, which I love. It's a, uh, very interesting industry. So much about like how people behave. And then I said, look, this is a very nice segue into spending some years in another type of environment based in Europe for another type of company still in the same industry and continue growing. And the type of responsibility was actually to build something with my own hands. And that called my attention. So that's it. That is actually what got me here. Um, professionalizing how we run data analytics, building the teams that are running data Governance and now expanding into Artisha services. A little bit of a long walk this, this whole part, but that gave the whole spectrum.

Speaker C: No, I appreciate it and it's helpful. You know, when we started this podcast years ago, I wasn't sure, I guess maybe I thought initially that it was going to be like a tech podcast. And the more that I've grown as an executive and as a technologist and otherwise, I really appreciate the journey and the, the other stuff. You know what I mean? Like, and I mean it goes back to the advice that you started the episode with. Like, it's, it's not even necessarily about the technology, it's about the, the human impact and like what we're accomplishing with technology and the people that I am working with to, to facilitate whatever, whatever it might be. So anyway, I, I thank you for, for all that and, and I also appreciate, you know, and we talked a little bit about this offline and, but you kind of tied it in, in regard to your journey. Like something that I aspire to is how can I help my children who are, you know, very young right now, five, three and almost five months become global citizens. Right. So right now we live and reside in New York. That's great. But like my intention would be as they get older every year over the summer, maybe spend a month in Sweden, in Japan, anywhere, South America. Because as I've got to travel much later in my life. Right. It just, it's so good to continue. And I, I, I've said this quote before. The older I get, the more that I learn and the less I realize. I know, right? It's, it's the humility and being just a lifelong learner and the more culture I can absorb and the more things I can learn from people, it's just, I feel like I become, I continue to become a more well rounded person, you know?

Speaker A: Yeah, no, I, I agree. And um, and actually richer experiences at the end of the day, I think that that part of what it means even today that global citizen is not, it's not the same for everybody, which is amazing for some people is physically moving for some other people is how they are exposed with certain work experiences still more from one particular place. I think behind all these, the most important aspect that also I learned is the adaptability side. It's a muscle that the more actually you use, then it positions you better for being open to learn something different. That's something that I, uh, even every time that I moved from one country to the other, I met as you, I said I'M not going to stick around with the people that are culturally like what I already know. I want to actually like be surrounded because that actually healthily forces you to adapt at the end of the day. And that speaks a lot into even like for example, I use this example when I take like new hires, et cetera. So when I studied in electronics years ago, the math is, the math it's still there but the tech itself or like what we were is obsolete, right? Oh I mean I, I, I can't clearly just say okay, no I, I, I stay with that. And um, and um, the fact that it was all of us that moved on is we are adapting which by the way takes like the most important thing is adaptability. Uh because that opens up yourself to be hungry to want to learn something different. Um, recently maybe I just to round the the story and then I let you just jog another question. But I was in a conference and they were saying look, I mean do you want to participate in a panel? We're going to be talking. And they gave me acronyms and stuff and said I don't know what they are. So I said I don't know if I'm going to go too well, but you guys are doing these things. And I said it is actually true. Oh now they even this has a name actually to learn about that. So that is that never ending interest on, on the learning and adapting because there's always going to be something else and ah, we love that as humans. No, I mean creating that new concept and jumping on that and then building on it. So yeah, the adaptability and being hungry actually to, to learn because you have

Speaker C: to the leaders that I appreciate most embody those traits. And you know personally for myself a lot of the most significant moments of growth or you know, kind of when I look at the trajectory of like how I grew as a leader, they actually came more from either personal or professional strife or uncomfortability. Like I, I'm very, I, I, I could historically be very hard headed or I was doing things a certain way, I was trying to make things happen. But then I hit a wall. It stopped serving me and then I'd be like uh, oh well I need to, I need to connect more, I need to do this more. So my, my question for you is over the course of that journey that you described to us earlier, you know, is there a point that you either had a project fail or you know, you had some type of personal hardship or you know something happened but ultimately it was one of those kind of profound lessons where you took something away from it that still serves you today.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, by the way, in all these journeys there's a lot of something goes wrong or as ah, um, let's call it not planned. And honestly you learn more from those cases. One of the examples was when I was growing from one level to the next and I was based in Mexico. And for me the base to actually do that was work hard, deliver the results. So very logical. Uh, what I was actually missing, m and it was pointed out is for that next level you should have actually built certain type of relationships and trust and the connection. And I wasn't necessarily investing on that because I said, hey, if I do this perfect, I mean this is the project you want, a perfect next thing, et cetera, Very mechanical. Why wouldn't I be like that candidate that you want to progress? I was forgetting that actually as people we make irrational decisions, we're trying to be really good at things, etc. But especially when it comes to career progression. So uh, one of the failures and I was passed on was on a promotion and the direct feedback that I back then I didn't take it well. And I learned from take that feedback and kind of it's like, yeah, it wasn't enough that the work was perfect. I said, what do you mean? Um, so it was actually in this next level, you need to actually grow that site. That didn't come naturally to me. So actually laran said, look, we're actually passing on you and somebody, um, else got that, et cetera. And it was a moment that I said, look, I'm not feeling appreciated here. This is unfair. I think very quickly went to what it is very natural, which is like. But I did everything right. I mean this is not, it's the other ones. And I was missing the point that actually look, this needed to have a more comprehensive picture. So what I learned back then was it's not enough actually on um, trying to do the perfect job is about the people impact is did you build the right connections? Do you have the right sponsors? So this one was uh, learning in the context of career growth. Okay.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: On how actually you need to pay attention to certain things that if they don't come natural to you, it's not just, uh, okay, I obviate them, but you actually have to be requesting and um, by the way, for these kind of things. This is why I said I need to surround myself with mentors and coaches that help me see if there's an angle that I need to work more so that was a key learning from my side. And I have been applying and every time that actually I start something important new, I said, who are actually healthy mentors in that space, that I want to go and build a connection. Because at the end of the day, it will not be enough that I did a good job. It is actually how other people felt about, like my presence, my way of managing, etc.

Speaker C: That's what I, uh, mean what, what you were, what you learn from that, you know, I've had to learn the same way. And one of the things that I've, I've come away with is it doesn't matter how well I think I design a technology or roll out a technology. The success of it all is in the perception of others. Right. So like, the perception of others is, is reality.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Especially because if I have blind spots. Right. That I can't see, you know, and they're seeing. Right. And that's. And that's why, like your point about the mentor or the coach to help me hold up that mirror as I'm developing in certain areas is so crucial, you know?

Speaker A: Yeah. And something else that I learned on this space at the very beginning, I was, without realizing, getting the mentorship or the, the coaching in an echo chamber, like, oh, I. I think I get on well with these people and, and I want to. And, and by the way, they are already more senior. So I realized that actually it was getting way better, more assertive advice and observations with people that I didn't see eye to eye. And that is difficult because first of all, these people might not understand why you might be going after if it is some type of tactic. Um, so something else that I decided is in my mix, I do have people that I don't see eye to eye on purpose because I think that that strengthens a little bit, um, the 360 view that I need to have what is going on about myself, etc. Like a real advice. This wasn't that long ago when I enter record. It was one of the first projects a little bit political. I didn't know about that. I only knew a little bit. And I'm talking about like recent. I am already seasoned in these things and they still happen. Certain groups super against certain things. And that was the first thing that I had to deliver. And at the very beginning I said, look, come on, I'm new into this space. Why don't I get support? And then that thing is like, go and find actually who is the biggest detractor and request and saying, if I want to sit down from a mentorship, not from a project status or trying to convince you, et cetera. And that made a total difference because I actually started seeing points of view or context that I would never have had. And my natural thing would be, look, I come, I am new, but I also come with seniority. So this is my new decision. Just do it. That would have been a terrible mistake. And I am happy that I actually got that. We were able to, by the way, in this particular project, deliver without issues at the end. But at the very beginning I noticed that and, um, very quickly was adaptable. That's the thing.

Speaker C: And I mean this was. And this particular initiative, was this at Procter and Gamble or in your new role?

Speaker A: Oh, this was already at record. I started in August 23rd and I was already finding these very interesting political situation, like in October. It was like I just started.

Speaker C: Yeah. So I just, I only bring that up because, you know, we still today look at, you know, the, the failure rates on digital transformation initiatives as reported by, you know, McKinsey or any number of, you know, outlets. And I mean, they're high still. There's still like 70, 80%, you know, and I think the, like, culprits are often companies like Reckitt and, And you're saying you, you guys delivered that on time and excellence. I think some of the things that you did in regard to, you know, reaching across the aisle and developing these, you know, uh, relationships, it's what it's all about. Right? Like that's, it's just so huge when it comes to transformation on the level that, you know, you're trying to achieve. And so I'm just echoing that because for our listeners, I mean, it's just uh, such a crucial part in my experience.

Speaker A: Yeah, David, and good, good point that you mentioned on like a success rate or failure rate. I think sometimes that even the ones that ended up being successful, maybe they went with way more effort than truly, truly is really needed. And this speaks to you needed to put way more time, you need to go through more like hurting and suffering type of sessions and connections, etc. And maybe sometimes that speaks a little bit on, you know, how come. Speaks about the speed of trust. So when you don't have that, it takes more time, it takes more effort.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker A: At the end of the day. So even the ones that we said, oh, we could claim success, highly probable, like this was the case, it was still too, too painful and said like, we shouldn't have gone through so much. I mean, this could have had a little bit more of like, hey, we're going to be collaborating. We're not necessarily against each other. So even in the few ones that are, uh, successful, I think that they are still with a burden of too much effort that we have to put to make them successful.

Speaker C: I would absolutely agree. And it just reminds me, and I'll move on here, spending a little extra time on the front end in, you know, who are those people I should be connecting with? Am I spending time with them? Um, am I making them feel heard, feel seen, aligning, understanding different perspectives that might be contradictory to the mind? All of that will save me and effort and ultimately time and potentially just the overarching success or failure of the project down the line. So great, great thread there. I do want to get deeper into what you guys are doing at Reckitt. Herman. Uh, before we do, I always like to ask either favorite book or literary piece, either one maybe that you've read recently, one that just sticks out to you all time when you go back too often, but just one, one book or literary piece you might recommend to our listeners.

Speaker A: So I think I mentioned when I was part of the training on Speed of Trust, but it's also like that is actually very interesting. It's one recently more than reading books. Maybe this is something that I need to even like question myself. I'm reading much more on different type of articles. I spent time in substack just kind of clicking on some few authors just because I don't want to get their names wrong. So one that I really like is from Ethan Molik. One useful thing that very interesting because it actually makes you think around today we have the ability to pay attention to so many things and therefore there is the fight for the attention. So then the ability to refocus now starts becoming an interesting skill. So actually that is one that was very, very useful. So in Substack, I recommend people like Ethan Mollick, also like the old timers like Colby, et cetera, because they speak around efficiency in the companies. Like for example, Speed of Trust, et cetera. Those are just a couple of things. Nothing groundbreaking in that one. I'm simple.

Speaker C: No, I like it. I haven't spent so much time in substack and it's just a reminder. It's something that I want to dive deeper into. I'm sure it's relevant to a bunch of our listeners and they have not played around with it yet. So I'm glad you brought it up. So getting Herman into your current role, uh, so you've been at the company a few years now. Talk to us a little bit about your vision or what you're doing based on the overarching mission of the organization or, and, or perhaps like some of the initiatives that you guys are working on.

Speaker A: Yeah. So at our company right now, and this is by the way, why I joined this new area in shared Services. We're going to the next level of what it means shared services inside rekt. Shared services, high probability, most people understand, but just a set of activities inside big organizations that they have some type of sometimes repetition that you can automate and you do that at scale. But also it's a very interesting engine for innovation because if you are running the operation of the business, then you have a unique position to understand opportunities. I was always part of shared Services at, uh, Procter and Gamble. So seeing this new chapter inside Rekit was very interesting. And I raised my hand and I said, look, I do want to actually go. So in that space we are first of all leveling up on some existing shared service offerings that we have normally we have that in finance, in hr. And I am leading what we're doing with master data. And our most immediate is we have been having a fragmented way of running how we set up certain master data inside the company, set up products, set our customer data. Um, customer for us are the Amazons, the Tescos, the carrefours of the world, or even for example, how to set up certain SKU information, publish that out there for the retailers then to have it. So it's critical something you get it wrong and you can stop the production, you can stop a shipment. We're having still today a fragmented way of running it in different countries. Each country would find its own optimal way. And therefore in the aggregated picture, it's not optimal. So I'm actually right now standardizing that globally. So very interesting. Touching hundreds and hundreds of lives of people that will work differently. By the way, putting a mix of two things, what we call labor arbitrage because we leverage a lot our offshore partners. This is business outsourcing plus the automation side. And automation in this space is getting a new kind of push. Automation has existed for some time. I'm talking about rpa, Robotic Process Automation. What we're able to do with bots, natural language processing with algorithms, models, et cetera. With the generative side, we're getting a new push and with LLMs, and we are playing a little bit with SLM. So in the mix, it is my responsibility not just to transform how the Processes are running, but also to make them more efficient. Therefore that is where the technology is as enabler. It's not the central part. The central part is the process and then the outcome. So that is actually on my plate right now figuring out how we take that model, that blueprint in more countries. We started with a uh, design and a first pilot. It was in one European block. Last year we got it in a very good sense. And now we are expanding this year to other regions and we're going to be finishing next year. That will bring a lot of efficiency in the company. We already actually are seeing that we are able. For example, I use this, this case as kind of a catchphrase or elevator pitch in the, in the pilot market that we did this last year, end of last year we were taking around 200 days to get a product, an SKU, okay from the initial setup ready to be commercialized, that we can get an order from a retailer and ship it 200 days. That's a lot. We're able to already bring it down to 90 days by just standardizing and still. 90 days, three months. It's a lot. It should be way faster. The business speed today demands that we can do this in shorter cycles. But you can't do that in the old traditional ways with a lot of handshakes, certain teams doing in a way waiting for approvals from certain people that are out of office for two weeks. So we're redesigning process and after the process redesign is when we apply other magic like the automation and so on. So that's the core of what I'm actually doing. What we are noticing with this is there is opportunity to sell data services to other functions and businesses. So for example, I use another real case we're talking with R and D. R and D has a lot of connection externally with suppliers, regulatory agencies to collect information, having to process in a particular way and then create those CS reports that have to actually go externally to be presented, approved. The longer you take internally to prepare them, you are missing a big opportunity because the external part of these processes are long. Think about the FBA's of the world, et cetera. And everything is about like the data collection. And we are noticing that there is a huge opportunity to sell data services on how to more smartly collect this kind of data, huh? Have it more corrected in our data platforms, how our data products. That connects back to my work in data analytics and get them ready. So that one, we're still not having a first pilot or minimal viable product in place. We're planning on having that in the next quarter with some of our markets and categories. We handle categories in our company that are health. They are over the counter but is highly regulated. It's not as much as maybe pharma etc. But still. So we are constantly under like everything documented. The process has to be very explainable, etc. So those are two really big ones is expanding a whole model. And um, this one it is standing up data services that we know that we can run at scale.

Speaker C: Wow, that's super cool. What about if you had to say things that are holding you guys back as a company or things that are challenging, like not for you personally per se, but challenging at a more macro level for the company.

Speaker A: I think two stuff when I said at the very beginning, it's not about the tech, it's about the human impact. Many times this kind of work is actually progress developed, taken forward by arguably technologists. And many times, and I include myself in that space. We might struggle on articulating simply what this means for the business. If you struggle on articulating, you are missing the opportunity of engaging the leaders, the businesses to support it because they take longer to get it. Okay, so that's something that prevents us from even going is the ability to articulate in simple terms what does it mean for the business. Some type of, let's call it technical change. We might very quickly find ourselves geeking out or uh, mentioning how a new model might do something and we or totally miss the point that they don't care about that they just have a problem because these regulatory agency in this country is giving them headache. We didn't make the connection in the first 30 seconds of the conversation. So that is one that is getting our way I think is continue to evolve the skills of articulating in business terms. The other part is actually a little bit more technical. I think that the nature in our companies we have a fragmented ecosystem. We're never going to have like one massive, let's call it system. Whatever. It doesn't make sense. We don't go back to that. So in that natural fragmentation, it's still difficult to have a proper, let's call it connective data model that you can. I know if I get a signal that I will have some supply issues and that will affect this plant production the next month. How that quickly goes today to the marketing plants in certain countries. So we don't overspend on marketing. Connecting those data points. They are naturally sitting in radically different type of systems. It's not trivial today depends if you have people still making the connection. So there is still an opportunity on having a, a way better connected data model. And that is not. The answer is not like one system, one layer, one whatever. It's not that.

Speaker C: Right? No.

Speaker A: So those are the two things that we are, I would say, struggle and in a good sense grapple with it, how to overcome it.

Speaker C: Right. Yeah. No, that's, that's exciting. And I mean the fact that you guys are even grappling with it and doing that work I think is something that's, I would say like leading edge. Honestly. It's something that. Because you start to get into more predictive analytics and like, how can I get ahead of decisions that a really, really smart human who had their hands in everything may or may not have caught previously, you know, in a, in a given role. So that's very cool.

Speaker A: That's. That is correct.

Speaker C: So Harrod, a couple last questions for you. One would be, you know, so in, in the consumer goods industry and at record or otherwise, you know, with the understanding that you don't have a crystal ball, what do you think will be some of the biggest changes as time passes or the biggest innovations that we'll see or you know, just in the future of this world? What are some, maybe even or uh, predictions that you have, Any, anything in that, in that vein?

Speaker A: Yeah, one is, let's call it external facing by the way, type of companies like Reki or PNG or other ones as well, like happens with Hair Liver. They have been around for many years, the 1800s. So the ability uh, to disrupt itself in a healthy way and meaning like you are mentally up for it, to continuously try to change that is actually going to be like a really big thing connected to that. What it is actually coming is your biggest disruptor is not going to be like a peer review. Many times we think like, okay, we compete with Unilever on this part, on PNG with this one. It's going to be this small company that figure out a mechanism with just three people, very smart use of tech and an ecosystem and they disrupt you. That is already actually happening a lot with um, we work a lot with uh, like in product research, but also how we sell the products with retailers. And now almost everybody with social commerce can become a small retailer. And that disrupts how we sell our product and therefore disrupts how we present our business at the end of the day because we're uh, prioritizing and spending millions with just certain retailers. So that's something like to Keep an eye on which is highly probable. Uh, the disruption will happen from a small angle or an industry that it is not yours. Okay.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: Like for example media was disrupted by retailers. Right now retailers today behave as media outlets. The big agencies were not expecting necessarily that Walmart will become the biggest competitor for media as an outlet. So that is one thing. The other one in our space, I think that what we need to predict and not be disrupted or affected is the speed to decision when we are seeing internally. So now I'm bringing it back internally that your systems to make decisions and it could be a decision on how you set the priority on um, how you work on a project, on any other type of thing. It's not going at the speed that you know it should go. That is the strongest signal. But actually something is not right. It's either because you don't have the mechanisms or the data. So the speed to decision is becoming one of the most interesting KPIs to start measuring how you deliver. And um, we have been using that for example IAM insure services instead of using SLA of oh my turnaround time is. This is the speed to decision that I enabled for the business. Like I was saying, wow. Now the decision to commercialize an SKU can be done in 90 days, not in 200 days.

Speaker C: Right. I like that a lot.

Speaker A: The KPIs are changing in that aspect as well. So that is the second big one that we are noticing. Doesn't mean that we figure it out. It just means that we are realizing that it's happening. And then we're thinking how we, we bring that to life, how we operationalize that.

Speaker C: I think in my experience at each of these junctures, the awareness is 75% of it. The other 25% is figuring it out. You have to go figure it out. And this has been great. I really appreciate you taking the time. Last question I always just like to end on is if you could go back 5, 10, 15 years in time, what advice would you give your younger self?

Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Yeah. 10 years ago where I was in the U.S. so here's the thing. My advice 10 years ago actually was given a role that I didn't want. So and then I realized it was replatforming. PLM product lifecycle management is super important for companies like ours. I didn't want that. Uh, I thought it was. I go back to working on some technical that opened up so much for me even till today. So my advice is whatever rock you're given policy to make it or press it to make it a diamond, um, polish it to make it like, uh, a gem. Because at the moment it might feel like a rock, but it is on you to actually make it shine in the right way. So that I was telling I was sorry for the, uh, bitching around that they don't understand me. That is not my strength. So why the hell somebody else didn't want this role and now they are giving it to me again. With all these years in, the company was still having that attitude. And right now what I'm noticing is if something comes and I see it in a, uh, shitty way, I actually like flip it around that I said I will turn it into a job. So that is my advice to my 10 year younger self.

Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. Well, I mean, it just, it just embodies like the, the perspective shifts that we have over time. You know, when I was younger I would have received feedback or a role or whatever in a certain way. And now, anyway, amazing advice, amazing episode. Thank you so much for taking the time, Ramon. I appreciate you, man.

Speaker A: No, absolutely. Hey, David, thanks also for the opportunity on sharing the story and um, for everybody on the podcast. It's amazing actually to be able to share these kind of things and looking forward to further dialogue online or otherwise.

Speaker C: Cheers. Yeah. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Ah, and we will catch you all next week.

Speaker B: Thank you for listening to the Disruptive Innovators, Champions of Digital Business podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a five star review and subscribe to enjoy future episodes. This episode is brought to you by Disruptive Innovations, a uh, leading tech consulting firm that helps enterprise organizations with their IT strategy. Put process optimization and workflow improvement. Contact them and find out more@disruptiveinnovations.net.