CIO CIO

“At Infosys, I said we will go to the best and compare ourselves with the best global companies. Once we compare ourselves with the best global companies, I can tell you we Indians have a lot to do. We have to set our aspirations high because 800 million Indians get free ration. That means 800 million Indians are in poverty,” he said in speaking to Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of Indian multinational conglomerate RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. “If we are not in a position to work hard, then who will work hard?” Murthy’s proposal has previously been criticized for posing serious health risks and a lack of work-life balance. At the same time, studies have shown that more working hours do not necessarily lead to better productivity but to worse productivity. Murthy did not provide comment on whether Infosys compensates its workers for overtime pay, nor did he discuss how billable hours are reported to or remunerated by clients of the company’s consulting and outsourcing services. source

“It’s a good sign,” he adds. “It means people want to get involved and invest in their development, and that’s important.” Training in-house is a strategy that Marzoni clearly believes in since expecting people who are experts in a certain area to step in and make things work with the company’s processes right away isn’t realistic at the level they need. Also, AI in particular is a discipline that works in a very specific way.  “To build AI capabilities that can help employees in a certain processes can be as important as a data scientist or a machine learning engineer being the expert and building the solution,” he says. “AI is very much about data, and data is largely in people’s heads, so we must invest in developing the people — the experts — who become important actors when it comes to how we build solutions.” Order of data Having your data in order is the cornerstone to moving forward with AI. “The ecosystem is constantly producing more data, so it’s impossible for everything to be in perfect order all the time; it’s something you have to constantly work at. And it’s important to have your data in order even if you don’t know what you’re going to use it for. It’s very easy to do relevant things with AI if you have a handle on your data. So far, Ikea has come a long way with its data management concerning supply chain and warehousing, but when it comes to customer experience, however, there’s more to do, says Marzoni. “We can improve how we collect data about the customer process,” he says.  source

Rob Mills has been instrumental in driving Tractor Supply Co.’s rapid growth, profitability, and world-class customer experience. Mills joined Tractor Supply a decade ago as its CIO, and within four years, his role, influence, and impact had expanded significantly. Now, as executive vice president and chief technology, digital, and corporate strategy officer, Mills has cemented himself as a key business leader at the $14 billion rural lifestyle retailer, which has come a long way since its humble beginning in 1938 as a mail-order tractor parts business. The company now employs more than 50,000 team members and operates more than 2,200 stores in 49 states. Mills joined me on a recent episode of the Tech Whisperers podcast to discuss his leadership journey and impressive track record as a business-, tech-, and customer-savvy executive. Afterwards, we spent some time focusing on the various ways he and his teams have helped orchestrate business growth. What follows is that conversation, edited for length and clarity. source

Unfair practices and strategic risks The Biden administration has alleged that China’s dominance stems from anti-competitive practices, including cyber intrusions, forced technology transfers, and underpricing chips by 30% to 50% — often below production costs. Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative, explained that these artificially low prices are forcing out competitors and consolidating China’s control over the market. “China’s acts, policies, and practices appear to have and to threaten detrimental impacts on the United States and other economies, undermining the competitiveness of American industry and workers, critical US supply chains, and US economic security,” the statement added. source

Last year, Spain’s tourism sector, its economic growth engine, reached historical levels, contributing nearly €187 billion (about $195 billion) to its GDP thanks in part to the fruits of digitalization. Technology, says Soltour CIO Miguel Abril, has taken on a fundamental role, transforming not only the customer experience through personalization and operational efficiency, but also the way in which consumers plan, book, and enjoy their trips. However, he adds, the maturity varies in one of the most consolidated verticals at a national level. “The big players, such as OTAs [Online Travel Agencies], are advancing in their adoption of new technologies, taking advantage of AI and big data tools, while other actors are in earlier stages of integration,” he says. Referring to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics, Abril highlights that in the last five years, technological investment within the sector has grown more than 40%. “This reflects the growing dependence on digital solutions to maintain competitiveness,” he says.  source

Emerging technologies like 5G, blockchain, and quantum computing will see increased investment in the region in the coming years. The rollout of 5G infrastructure will be a key enabler for IoT and smart cities, driving innovation in sectors like healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and industrial automation. Blockchain technology will continue to find applications in finance, supply chain management, and public services, with regulatory frameworks being developed to encourage its growth. Despite the promising outlook for technology in the Middle East, organizations will face significant challenges as they adopt new technologies. The skills gap, particularly in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, remains a critical issue. Lalchandani stresses the need for ongoing training and upskilling to build a workforce capable of driving innovation and supporting technological advancements. In conclusion, the Middle East is poised for a technological revolution in 2025, with AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and IoT leading the charge. With the right investments, policies, and strategies in place, the region is on track to become a global leader in digital transformation. However, overcoming challenges such as workforce readiness, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity risks will be critical to realizing this vision. source

In many organizations, the principles of IT Service Management (ITSM) have transformed how IT departments handle requests, manage resources and improve efficiency despite budget and resource challenges. But why stop at IT? The rise of digital transformation has necessitated a new service management approach. Enterprise Service Management (ESM) creates a more holistic, enterprise-wide approach to service management and breaks down the silos of traditional service management. With ESM, IT departments become critical business enablers, working in harmony with departments like HR, facilities, legal, and more. ESM expands the scope of ITSM to streamline operations across the entire organization. By aligning IT services with broader business processes, you get improved service delivery, enhanced collaboration, more visibility, higher customer satisfaction and greater business agility. Key components of ESM Successful ESM execution involves a few key components, including: Process automation: Automating routine tasks like incident management, service requests, and approvals frees up staff to focus on strategic initiatives. Automation also reduces human error and improves response times, especially for cross-departmental collaboration on tasks like onboarding new employees. Shared service delivery models: ESM promotes shared workflows and processes across departments, breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration. This ensures consistency in service delivery and promotes efficient resource utilization for projects and tasks. Finding a no-code ESM platform with automation and integration – like TeamDynamix – can make all the difference. With codeless platforms, you can better enable technical employees in all departments and cut down on the number of IT resources needed to carry out ESM. Avoiding ESM pitfalls One of the biggest challenges organizations face when it comes to implementing ESM is resistance to change. Organizational change can be scary.   Any organization looking to implement ESM should start by encouraging everyone to think about their tasks as part of a service, and their roles as service providers. This perspective can help motivate people to want to innovate. In addition, leadership should communicate the benefits of ESM and provide training and support to employees so they can actually see the benefits and how it will help them manage their work. Pima County, for example, started its culture shift in IT, to demonstrate the success of new technology before rolling it out to the rest of the organization. “The drudgery of working through mundane, repetitive tasks doesn’t exist just in IT,” said Mark Hayes, information technology leader for the county. “The more we can reduce toil within the departments we support, the more people are going to buy in and understand the value of what we’re trying to achieve. There’s nothing like success to breed more success, and once other departments see the benefits, they’re going to want these tools too.” Finding the right ESM platform for success At Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, TeamDynamix is the ESM platform choice. “We looked at a number of systems,” said Program Manager Adam Dunn. “In TeamDynamix, we found the one that was most user-friendly.” The resort’s housekeeping team will use the ESM platform to help with resource capacity planning around events. “We have an event space where we host a variety of different things,” Dunn explained. “We’ll be using [ESM] to get out in front of these and schedule housekeeping for room cleanings before and after these events. All of these housekeeping requests can be scheduled and managed through a ticket. This allows our housekeeping department to see what events are upcoming in order to plan and staff appropriately.” Using TeamDynamix ESM has greatly improved the response times for a variety of services, including security and access approvals, Dunn said.   “We averaged four or five days to obtain proper approvals with our previous system. Now, we’re looking at one or two days,” he said. “We’re talking about a 70-percent decrease. If you need access to an application, waiting four days for all the approvals to take place and get you into the system keeps you from being able to do your job. Getting that down to just a day or two has been critical for us.” Is your company ready to embrace the power of Enterprise Service Management? Explore how adopting ESM can transform your operations and drive business success. source

Accelerating decision making with analytics and AI With CEO Aengus Kelly talking publicly about AerCap being a data company, a big part of Koletzki’s forward planning is around data analytics, finding a way to harvest knowledge hidden in databases that can benefit the business. Last year he was planning to build a data warehouse in Azure when Microsoft Fabric was announced. Ordinarily, Koletzki would be wary of ‘buggy’ new products, but because Fabric reuses existing Microsoft components and makes data analytics available as a service, he was comfortable signing up and becoming the first Fabric customer in Ireland. “Microsoft is very clever in connecting their products together. It meant I didn’t have to build my own architecture,” he says. “I just subscribed to their service.” While there are AI components in Fabric, the wider use of AI by AerCap is still under evaluation. Koletzki has strong views on the hottest topic in tech. “Let’s be very clear, AI has to be controlled,” he says. “Generative AI is a probabilistic, not a deterministic system. For the last 40 years, we’ve been interacting with computers as human beings and been trained into believing that a deterministic answer will be repeated when you ask the same question twice. That’s not the case in AI. It’s a probabilistic system, and it can hallucinate.” source

There is no wiggle room in that date, nor is there any in the intermediate dates for locking of profiles (Jan. 3) and blocking an automatic migration to Azure Front Door (Jan. 6). Microsoft recommended that customers complete their migration off the Azure CDN from Edgio platform by Jan. 7, 2025, to avoid service disruptions. However, it said, “If you have any services running on Azure CDN from Edgio on Jan. 7, 2025 and haven’t informed us of your plans … we’ll attempt to migrate your services over to Azure Front Door on Jan. 7, 2025. We’ll be performing this migration to Azure Front Door on a ‘best effort’ basis, and doing so might cause issues related to the billing, features, availability, and/or performance you’re currently consuming with Azure CDN from Edgio.” In other words, it’s best to do your homework and deal with the migration off Azure CDN from Edgio to another platform yourself to avoid problems. Microsoft has already posted guidance on how to go about it. source