AI and Automation: Dwayne Allen of Unisys On How To Effectively Harness AI Technology In People Operations
An Interview With Rachel Kline
Leverage Partnerships. Don’t do it all yourself. A partner ecosystem enables you to leverage additional skills and experience (sometimes from other client engagements), plus it drives agility and speed.
With technological advancements, particularly in the AI space, an increasing number of tasks can be either fully or partially automated. In this series, we are talking to People experts about how they’re utilizing new technologies to make their jobs easier and provide greater strategic value. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dwayne Allen, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Unisys.
Dwayne Allen is an ORBIE-award winning technology executive primed for times like these. Equipped with experiences across a range of industries, a healthy dose of self-awareness, and a passion for learning and people, Allen is redefining the art of the possible as a strategic and innovative CTO. In his current role as senior vice president and CTO at Unisys, he focuses heavily on the company’s AI efforts and has accountability not just for technology but also solution innovation, architecture and IP, and patents. True to his customer-first, business-focused leadership style, he is actively involved with clients.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Before we drive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Coming out of college, I had opportunities in several industries, such as Banking, Advertising and Sales, but I was obsessed with IT after taking computer science classes. Coding was like magic to me, and I was hooked. Then, when I started working, I got to see how software and programs could solve business problems and how building relationships, listening, and learning were the keys to success. It was so exciting.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Early in my career, I had some delivery successes and was invited to a meeting with some business stakeholders to discuss the requirements and needs for a new restaurant system, which was a big deal for me. So, I was intent on demonstrating my technical knowledge to impress the stakeholders, and throughout the meeting, I kept tossing out technical terms to show that I could develop a solution to solve the problem. Every time I spoke, I was met with a polite dazed stare, and the conversation continued until my primary business partner leaned over with a smile and said, “Dwayne, these are restaurant and hospitality professionals; you need to speak in a language they understand, i.e., restaurant terms. Nobody knows what you are talking about.” I was so embarrassed, but it was a valuable lesson that I take with me to this day. Speak the language of the business to focus on the outcome.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
I’m grateful for a few people who saw more in me than I saw in myself.
The first is the former CIO at Marriott. I was looking to advance my career and began applying to an accelerated Masters in IT program. He told me, “You’re a Director of IT at Marriott — that already translates into having a Masters — what you need to do is get an MBA.” That advice, along with his decision to involve me in a special business strategy project — the only IT person among 20 leaders — significantly changed my career trajectory.
I’m also grateful to the former CEO at Fifth Third Bank, who was the CIO at the time. I was recruited to solve some regulatory challenges so the bank could address specified items to resume growth and acquisitions, but he saw me as a leader in a far larger capacity than the role I was hired to fill.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to the CIO at Cummins, who hired me to lead IT in a new org structure, even though I did not have global experience at the time. He went to the president of one of our largest segments and told him that he wanted to place me as the Division CIO supporting manufacturing operations around the world. This opportunity accelerated my career and would not have happened without his confidence in me.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My MBA professor once said, “People don’t resist change; they resist what they don’t understand.” This has stuck with me throughout my career. Over the years, I have been a part of or led organizational change or change management efforts, and the common denominator is people. When I think about how to help them get on board with the new vision, I ask myself, “Have I made this clear and explained the rationale effectively?” Communication is the ingredient to any change success. To breakthrough, you must put yourself in the shoes of the target audience and appeal to their emotions and reason.
“A setback is a setup for a comeback.” I heard this from a speaker years ago, and I have found it to be true. Early in my career, I would treat a setback as a ruling. Over time, I realized that the outcome is merely an input to the next opportunity. As you apply the learning from the experience, the results of the next effort are achieved at an even higher level. The setback fueled greater growth and made me better and my output greater. I use it so frequently that my adult daughters have adopted it.
Thinking back on your own career, what would you tell your younger self?
Learning is paramount. The knowledge you gain has a shelf life and will continue to be replaced. So, knowledge actually just sets you up for the next stage of learning. Much like the growth mindset, it’s better to be a learn-it-all all than a know-it-all. Change is a gift and an opportunity, not a challenge.
Let’s now move to the central part of our interview. How have recent technological advancements such as AI made your job easier?
It’s made my position at Unisys more exciting because it opens up more doors for opportunities to deliver value and be imaginative. I would segment my answer into two categories: personal work style and business outcomes. From a personal work style, I’m collaborative and inclusive by nature, which drives partnership and buy-in, so AI enables me to have the right collection of information at my fingertips organized in a targeted and personalized way to drive optimal engagement. My inquisitive and curious orientation, which drives innovation and breakthroughs, is accelerated by AI, especially Generative AI. The combination of data, rules and algorithms can emulate a thought pattern, use the outputs as discovery and then apply that as input to a new set of rules at more efficient speeds with increased ideas.
From a business outcomes standpoint, these advancements help drive digital transformation for clients. For example, my work in the healthcare space at the height of the pandemic was supported by these efforts. This work has included manufacturing and leveraging data through AI to enable remote problem solving through connected equipment diagnostics to user’s cell phones. Another is digital aftermarket strategies to transform configure-price-quote, inventory allocation, and sales for the Smart Construction initiative. No matter the business case, AI has been the driving enabling force. Advanced computer processing, capacity and speed alone would not have been enough.
Simply stated AI has enabled me to thrive and achieve, which is what makes me so excited about the future and the imaginative new breakthroughs we will deliver with AI.
In which processes do you utilize automation the most?
We are using automation to deliver outcomes in several client industries such as Banking, Health Care, Marketing/Comm, Transportation, Cargo, Public Sector. Our automation services across these industries have generated the following returns:
- Automated transaction processing, driving faster ROI, and $1M+ year-over-year in Loss Management savings
- An AI/ML solution reduced client underwriting from a few days to 4 hours for the top 16 mortgage documents with 99% accuracy
- AI/ML models — with Unisys IP — matching signatures against character recognition engines, with industry-leading accuracy
- AI-based surveillance pattern solution providing predictive risk-based fraud detection and financial crime monitoring
Unisys is experiencing improved internal efficiencies, thanks in part to the ethical and responsible implementation of AI capabilities. We are driving this effectiveness through Human Resources recruiting efforts, making our time-to-fill faster and more efficient. It also impacts our sales prospects insights for key accounts, including identifying key decision-makers and connections. Marketing, Legal, Code and Proposal Generation are also leveraging early stages of AI as part of internal streamlining.
What should people bear in mind when automating processes?
Process and outcome are a natural place to begin as they help formulate the roadmap to automation and continue building on the process itself. Start with identifying the biggest problem, challenge or efficiency drain to ultimately identify the biggest opportunity — this, in turn, will create the highest business engagement. Along the way, it’s important to pay attention to details throughout the adoption. It’s also important to remember, there are always various components to data analysis, structuring, transformation, and integration needed to maximize functionality. The key is being able to pull it all together.
What are your “Top Five Tips For Harnessing AI Technology to Propel People Operations”? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Learning and Adaptability. Knowledge is a currency that loses value over time, but adaptability enriches it to increase and sometimes double its value. Each cycle of adaptation advances your operation. The key is to keep learning and adapting never stop.
- Imagination. Be bold and think big. Don’t just improve something, redefine it.
- Change how Work is Defined. This is where Generative AI is a key enabler. Rules deliver outputs that become inputs to the next set of rules in an accelerated learning cycle to deliver breakthroughs.
- Go Difficult or Go Home. Solve a meaningful and difficult problem. It gets attention and support.
- Leverage Partnerships. Don’t do it all yourself. A partner ecosystem enables you to leverage additional skills and experience (sometimes from other client engagements), plus it drives agility and speed.
What are your favorite “I couldn’t live without these” tools?
Those around me often define the tools and applications that are favorites of mine, personally and professionally. For example, my daughters have personally influenced the tools I use regularly, such as streaming services, financial service platforms and entertainment applications. Professionally, many of my colleagues and friends are pushing the boundaries through platforms such as LinkedIn that draw my attention and use. Those around me often show me tools they are using to push the boundaries through evolution and innovation, and my curious nature is to want to experience them as well.
How do you see technology impacting the HR space in the future?
Technology’s impact on HR will align with those using it. For our younger generations, HR applications that support recruitment, training and performance management need to emulate the environment that employees live in. Through a gamified experience, the work applications will mirror personalized environments with tailored interactions. This has already started to occur in the workforce, and we will see it continue to evolve as the needs and preferences of the workforce change.
We are very blessed to have some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have a private lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this.
The person I would love to have a private lunch with is Cal Ripken, Jr, who played for the Baltimore Orioles. He holds the record for consecutive games played, 2,632, surpassing Lou Gehrig’s long-standing streak of 2,130 that many deemed unbreakable at the time. To achieve that over 20 years while also avoiding injury and adjusting to the frequent travel, it requires an incredible amount of grit and determination. I believe that type of resolve is transferrable to many aspects of life and business, and we need that type of will to drive transformation, especially with AI. For that reason, I would love to eat, drink, chat and learn all about Cal’s superpowers.
How can our readers further follow your work?
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwayne-allen-1a40137/
- Unisys.com
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
