Interview: Eero Traagel, Associate Partner at IBM
Eero Traagel is a consultant and an associate partner at IBM Global Business services (GBS), specializing in digital transformations and providing industry innovations around Cognitive Computing, Cloud, Blockchain and IoT to deliver end-to-end business solutions.
Eero was a keynote speaker at Ivey FinTech’s 2018 IBM Tech Consulting Competition. We sat down with Eero and chatted a bit about his perspectives on fintech and digital disruption.
Ivey FinTech: Give us an overview of IBM Global Business Services (GBS), the SAP practice and also the CBD program.
ET: IBM GBS is our consulting practice. It’s an interesting place to be versus other consulting practices because it is part of a larger corporation. You are able to reach back to the broader IBM (including IBM Watson, IBM Security lines of business). Within our consulting practice, we have growth platforms, service lines and practices. This is the way we organize to best go to market and address our customer’s needs. Our growth platforms are digital strategy and interactive, cognitive process transformation, cloud application and innovation. Each one solves a different client problem. However, combined, they are the power of IBM’s transformational services.
Ivey FinTech: Could you pinpoint any specific industry that you have worked in as a consultant that’s been experiencing a rapid change in technology?
ET: I think there are a couple — CPG (consumer packaged goods) and the foods industry. Really interesting stuff in terms of trying to gain hyper-local insights and understanding when there’s a specific demand in a specific area. For instance, based on weather information, or perhaps based on information such as knowing that there is a major event around, and leveraging those insights to make sure you have the right stock to avoid stock outs.
I work with a lot of distribution clients and what is happening in their industry is very interesting and disruptive. Oversimplifying it, but they, traditionally, move product from large manufacturers and distribute it into retail locations. With new technology introductions around logistics and different ways that we can ship, such as with drones and Amazon delivery, it’s disrupting their core function. Helping our clients navigate those technology shifts, and find new business models is particularly important. From a business operations standpoint, they’re under tremendous pressure as it is, on both supply and demand sides of the equation. As a result, they have to come up with new ways to make money, and preserve profits, such as becoming an information broker, instead of just a product mover. For them, these days, it’s more about leveraging the information that they have on each side of the equation, acting as a broker and seller of this information, and facilitating that kind of digital marketplace.
Ivey FinTech: What are the biggest barriers in selling new technologies like Watson and Cognitive? Is it particularly hard to show companies a use case for this tech?
ET: I think there’s some companies that are culturally more adept to wanting to apply the technologies, so having the right mindset and culture to adopt the technologies is important. However, it’s important that we frame new technology and use cases, within the context of a business problem in their industry. Does it drive revenue? Does it reduce costs? Does it make their customers or stakeholders experience better? What value does it provide?
As IBM, we have that client context and understanding, through work that we’re doing with them on other initiatives or offerings. For example, we may be maintaining their systems today or hosting them. Through that understanding of their IT landscape, as well as business operations context, we understand our client’s business extremely well. We know their strategies, how they operate, and we know how their current technology works (and doesn’t work!). I think bringing that knowledge into the discussions about the future innovation is particularly valuable.
Ivey FinTech: There are a lot of things happening in the AI field, and with it comes the debate on whether or not AI has the potential to be harmful. Do you think AI is dangerous? What is IBM doing to ensure that AI is not harmful to our society?
ET: At IBM, we’ve always been at the leading edge of technology. We started the conversation about Cognitive and AI way back when Watson was on Jeopardy on TV. Not many of our competitors today, were talking about it at that time. We tend to trail blaze and break ground on new technologies, but with that, comes a responsibility — security, use case and applications, purpose. IBM is (and has been since its inception) also very vocal about the relationship between humans and machines, and we truly see it as a symbiotic relationship, so one helping the other, not replacing the other. At IBM, we value solving true client problems and societal problems for the betterment of humankind. It is core to our values and purpose. The way we look at it, we focus on enhancing the technology and business offerings that our clients have versus disrupting their whole business, and potentially, using their own data to over take their business.
Ivey FinTech: Do you think the technologies underpinning cryptocurrencies (i.e. blockchain) are ready for prime time? Or would it take time to become more mature down the road? From what you see working with clients, are most firms ready to adopt things like blockchain?
ET: There are some barriers on other fronts, but in terms of the maturity of the technology, it’s there. We’re making news with our clients in many industries, and as you heard earlier today, applying blockchain to the Financial Services industry. One of the key challenges is getting companies in the same industry to cooperate and collaborate with one another, to create those communities essential to blockchain, to drive efficiencies. Often times there’s traditional thoughts or barriers that prevent the application of the technology. This makes the change management critically important.
Ivey FinTech: A lot of people are interested in the Apple + IBM partnership that started a couple years ago. Could you tell us a bit more about how that works within the firm?
ET: We develop apps that are native for the Apple operating system for specific industry use cases that our clients have, and also, ensure integration to what we are doing in the enterprise application space with SAP. SAP also has a partnership with Apple, so between the 3 companies, we’re able to bring mobile at scale to our common clients. This could range from a strategic client facing mobile app, or and app to enable the client’s workforce mobility processing.
Ivey FinTech: Take yourself back to 2007 when you were an HBA at Ivey. If you can go back in time, what is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself in HBA? What is something you wish you knew back then?
ET: Relax and be yourself! Ivey does a great job preparing us for the real world — the many hours we will all work in whatever profession we go into. However, to the speech earlier this morning from CIBC about the strawberry analogy, “The sun will rise the next day. Life will go on.” When I started in my career, I was very driven, working long hours, and choosing work over life sometimes. And I think it’s important find that balance in life, take more time to yourself, and it will make you a wiser, sharper, and more effective employee. Consulting is a tough profession. We ask our folks to travel away from their families, work long hours to meet project deadlines, so its important to realize earlier in one’s career.
Interview by: Justin Tang | Researcher: Chris Oswald
Interviewed on: March 11, 2018
