#204 Data Is The Foundation That Makes Digital Transformation Sing With Harjot Singh, former CDO of RAC

This week we are thrilled to welcome Harjot Singh, who had been the CDO of RAC in WA until very recently. Singh is a true expert of and champion for transformation in the workplace, and has deep insights on data strategy and data governance to share. 

“Data drives a digital transformation in any organisation.” Singh said. “Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon around digital transformation, but most organisations struggle to understand where to start.

As Singh explains on the podcast, there is a specific order with which organisations need to approach transformation. It starts with data, which organisations should already be investing in because monetising data is one of the biggest opportunities in business. 

From there the data can be leveraged into machine learning and, eventually, AI. 

Related to this, however, Singh also mentions that organisations need to better understand the business drivers behind what they are doing with data and the digital transformation journey. “I wrote an article on LinkedIn that was around the five common mistakes to make in digital transformation,” Singh said. “If people think that digital transformation is only about technology transformation, it’s going to fail.”

From there, Singh and host, Felipe Flores, discuss the impact of regulation in Australia on innovation, how companies are working within those challenges, and how various highly regulated sectors – including insurance and financial services – are finding new opportunities. 

Ultimately, however, as Singh says, it all comes back to data. “I say data and digital in the same sense, because I treat them as two sides of the same coin – one is incomplete without the other. Data is the bullet and digital is the gun to launch the bullet – without both you’re not going to have much of an effect.”

For deep insights on the strategy and opportunity behind digital transformation, and the deep role of data in it, check out the full podcast!

Enjoy the show!

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“The simple thing is that people use machine learning and artificial intelligence, you know, as synonymous, whereas there is quite a bit of difference between what is artificial intelligence and what is machine learning. In fact, machine learning drives you towards artificial intelligence”

— Harjot Singh, former CDO of RAC

WHAT WE DISCUSSED

0:00 Introduction
06:17 Can you tell us a bit more about the structure of the framework and what type of things you looked at and assess?
12:21 What area do you think companies find the most challenging when they're transforming their organization?
16:06 How broad do you recommend companies think about that redesign? Is it taking existing products and giving them an update and or refresh? Or is it thinking broader to what could be?
21:49 What are some of the other items on your list of major or common errors in digital transformation?24:36  What other types of considerations should organizations have as they're wanting to embark on digital transformation or while they're going ahead and are in the midst of the journey in digital transformation? Are any other types of considerations or parting words anything that you think they should consider?

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• When you want to say that okay, I want to start a digital transformation journey. What are your drivers? For example, if you are a b2b organization, probably your drivers will be a bit different than if then if you are a b2c organization, for example, a b2b organization is mainly about compliance and operational efficiencies, whereas a b2c organization is essentially about data monetization or business diversification

• I think the common most common mistake is that not understanding the business drivers. And if people think that digital transformation is only about technology transformation, then it's gonna fail.

• Technology plays the role of an enabler. So, unless a business or the C suite has come up with their business drivers that this is what they want to achieve to business transformation. 

• First of all, is product customization. Do they want to achieve data monetization, business diversification, or if you are a b2b industry or you want to go for you know, efficient product redesign plus achieving efficiencies at the back end operations. So, these are the things unless these are agreed your digital transformation Well, if based on the different drivers, your digital transformation will take a slightly different route based on what you want to deliver. And unless these are agreed, so your digital transformation will actually, you know, not going to be that successful.

• Data literacy, or digital literacy, I would say, is a key driver along with the transformation piece. And I will say that, again, it's not only top down, but again, a bottom up approach is also very essential for that, in the sense that your people, okay, it's the C suite should be ready to accept it. But yes, people should be eager to adopt it. Otherwise, you have a transformation, you will face the adoption challenges, because people are not really keen to adopt that chain. And without adoption, I mean, any transformation will struggle.

• Don't ignore data. Because if you are ignoring data, and you are talking about digital transformation doesn't make sense to me. So why I say data and digital in the same sense, because I treat them as two sides of the same coin. You know, one is incomplete without the other think of that analogy that if data is the ammunition, if the data is the bullet, then digital is the gun to launch that bullet. Without that, if you have a bullet, it won't really make any effect.

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