Shawn Rosemarin is the Global Vice President, R&D, Customer Engineering at Pure Storage.
Generational innovation comes around every decade or so and with it a major opportunity to unlock new business opportunities, leapfrog incumbents and re-establish differentiation in mature markets. Right now, we are all witnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning asserting themselves as the next “big thing.” Given all of the hype and exuberance, it seems appropriate to share some of what I have learned from generative innovations over the last 25 years and how enterprises have successfully navigated through generational innovation.
Over the last few decades, we saw disruptive innovation completely change the way media was consumed and the business models that underpinned them, moving quickly from records to digital downloads and VHS tapes to Netflix. In retail, e-commerce disrupted traditional “brick-and-mortar” brands, putting the consumer in the driver’s seat by allowing their purchases to be made independently over the internet. In food service, food delivery took off during the pandemic, dramatically changing the experience and cost models for restaurants around the world. Now, AI and machine learning are demonstrating early success in customer experience (chatbots), marketing personalization, and application development and coding, igniting the concept of “co-pilots” that are augmenting human capabilities across every industry.
Helping Customers Manage Change
Watching technology that’s been in use for decades becoming obsolete isn’t easy. To make matters worse, navigating the complexity of new technology like generative AI can be daunting. So, how can you help your customers’ enterprises through this transition? Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Respect people and processes. Although all of this technology is exciting and promising, larger enterprises can have deeply established rigor around people and processes, and they can be difficult to change. Respect that. Seek to understand how the enterprise works and look for ways to manage the change so that it’s adapted to the employees and not the other way around.
Start with the customer problem and work outward. Look beyond what engineering says is possible to the challenges that the enterprise is looking to solve, and spend the time to understand why they are so important to solve and the benefit of solving them. Use this input and create a better operating model, leveraging technology and challenging the status quo.
Clearly define the benefits. Although educating IT buyers about the advantages and benefits of a certain technology may be exciting, remember that the funds and energy spent will always be tied to the direct measurable benefits that you can deliver. Spend more time defining the measures of success (e.g., revenue growth, expense reduction or risk mitigation) and test those measures across stakeholders in the business. Ask them if these benefits deliver significant value to their organizations, and if they do not, challenge the validity of the project.
Conduct a proof-of-value test with direct support from executive sponsors. Make sure that the conceptual whiteboard and minimum viable product (MVP) stand up to real business data and that your proposed costs and benefits are accurate. This stage builds credibility as well as internal support to help rally the enterprise to take on the change.
Conclusion
Sure, change can be difficult. Be the best partner you can be to help customers succeed at it. Doing so will help elevate you from merely being a vendor to being an essential strategic partner in helping them innovate and lead in their own industry.
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