Ahead in the Cloud: Innovating in the Face of Headwinds with Naomi Weir of the Confederation of British Industry

Chad Watt: Welcome to Ahead in the Cloud, where business leaders share what they've learned on their cloud journey. I'm Chad Watt, Infosys Knowledge Institute researcher and writer, here today with Naomi Weir. Naomi is with the Confederation of British Industry, a key business advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Naomi is CBI's Program Director for Innovation. Welcome, Naomi.

Naomi Weir: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Chad Watt: We're gonna talk technology policy and going green. Naomi, what is at the CBI's innovation agenda for 2023?

Naomi Weir: Thank you, Chad. Well, at the top of CBI's agenda overall is growth, as an economy but also for individual businesses. Particularly where both fiscal and monetary policy are tight, we really need to be getting growing. So there's these headwinds facings businesses and the only way to be doing that is through innovation and there's three big areas we'll be focusing on in 2023. That's around shaking the rules of the future economy, growing participation in it, getting more businesses innovating and businesses innovating more. And also, thinking about partnerships to really drive the future economy.

Chad Watt: You know, it's very interesting to think about innovation in the climate that we're heading into compared with the climate we have been leaving. Gosh, you just had to try new things. You had to do things differently through the pandemic. Now, you've got a lot of reasons to kind of avoid risk, avoid trying new things or taking on new initiatives. How do you at CBI keep that innovation mindset forward? What are the kind of messages that you are taking to clients?

Naomi Weir: Definitely. So I think what we've seen- you've articulated well the kind of... There was a bit of a burning platform. It wasn't a risk to try something new. You couldn't stay still. And I think that's one of the challenges we see across the board with innovation is that in crisis time, absolute no brainer. Everyone gets on and does it. It doesn't get on the long list of things we'll get around to. It's just we need a new way to solve this problem. We'll do it now. And we've seen a lot of that. And the sort of business leaders have sort of flexed their muscles in those ways and some of them got a bit of a taste for it and can see the real benefits and are looking to bet that in.

But actually, for others, there's been a bit of a kind of, heads in the sand ostrich approach to sort of carrying on that innovation, kind of waiting for better times. And that's not gonna be fit for purpose in the years ahead 'cause I don't think we're gonna have sort of smooth sailing for a while yet. We're not quite out of the woods. So I think for many businesses then, it's thinking about how do we innovate when it moves from urgent to important? 'Cause it's never not important but we all know about that matrix in our lives and thinking about how do we make sure we get around to the stuff that we know is important but isn't necessarily something we have to do by the end of today?

And so I think one of the things we're doing at CBI is we've got a plan over the next year to do a bit of work around helping, particularly boards, understand that business case for innovation in their context, thinking about how can they be asking the right questions and setting the right challenges of their executive and when thinking about growth and innovation in that context. And that point you mentioned around risk is really important. How do we calibrate? How do we calculate risk for our business? Is that just thinking about how do we minimize the uncertainty? Or is it thinking about what's reasonable and actually a helpful risk to be taking so that my business can grow in the right way that I know it needs to.

Chad Watt: You know, those kind of how questions are, of course, always informed best when you have some good data. And I know that's something you have put some focus on recently. It's something I as well have put some focus on so talk to me a little bit about CBI's work around data and your tool kit you've put together to help companies make the best use of their data, I believe.

Naomi Weir: Yes, definitely. So this was a piece of work we did in partnership with Infosys as well with a law firm, TLT. And thinking about how we can help firms use data better and this is really born out of the surveys and other work we've done with businesses but also things we know from our own lives and own engagement that data's everywhere but we're not making the best use of it and certainly not getting, for businesses, getting that insight and value from the data that's around them.

I think the particular why now is we know firms are collecting more data than ever, in part due to that massive tech adoption over the pandemic that we saw. So the capabilities or capacities for generating and storing and data but it's then getting onto use and value from it. So some of the work we've done, we've seen that only about a quarter, 26 percent of firms in the UK recognize that they're using data to generate business insights. We need to get that number higher and there's huge value. Huge. A kind of goldmine there. And a productivity goldmine as well for businesses.

So we've got untapped potential and the knowledge that data active companies are about 10 percent more productive. We could really do with some of that right now and businesses harking after that. So that's why we've kind of got this real focus on it. I guess the other area is data really underpins tech adoption. So without high quality data, we won't get the benefits of things like cloud or AI adoption. And those are really tools that businesses need to be figuring out and embedding how to use them in their businesses.

So data is really a business fundamental. It's a business basic and so helping more firms be articulating that they're getting those insights out of it for value is something that we're really keen to help businesses do.

Chad Watt: Well, and I think you're dead on right. Regardless of their technology proficiency, companies understand data has a huge potential and they're just passively creating and accessing and having access to large, huge amounts of data. But when you're faced with something so immense, Naomi, where do you recommend companies start?

Naomi Weir: Sure. So this is why we've created this tool kit 'cause we know that that's the question. Like, you could be sort of surrounded by an opportunity but almost frozen into inertia with the task being so big. And so like you said, firms already possess a lot of the data but it's how to make that useful.

So we set out 10 steps in our tool kit that firms can take and you'll be pleased to know that I won't go through all of them 'cause no one wants as three hour podcast. But I guess some of the key things are, so first, set the vision and start small. So identify where data analytics could really help deliver on your business strategy. Don't chase after the shiny tech. But as you- what challenges are you facing as a business? Pick specific use cases and then really decide where you want to focus your efforts to demonstrate impact and build momentum because actually then starting with what's achievable and valuable and then actually, that's the way you get greater buy-in across your organization to get that wider organizational change, which won't happen overnight.

But actually, if you can start to see some progress and some momentum, that's how you get behind it. So they're sort of setting the vision and starting small and then kind of the other areas just behind that is behind auditing your technology and processes to find your capability gaps. Once you know what you wanna do, having a bit of a thought about whether you're set to do that.

Third, navigating some of the data ethics and compliance issues in a really practical way so you don't get into trouble down the line. And that also helps really build trust with customers and clients and so you could be really confident in your innovation as you're implementing it that you've gone through those checks.

And then I guess, finally, finding the right data. So some of that might include tackling some of the barriers to collaboration with others. So thinking about data sharing and ultimately, making sure that you're really getting to use that data well.

Chad Watt: I wanna come back to a phrase you used that I think I'm going to steal. Data active companies. Can you kinda draw me a picture of what a data active company looks like and then maybe tell me a story about, you know, how data active companies have made use of their data?

Naomi Weir: Sure. So I think this is really that point where- so businesses who feel they're not able to actually get from data, owning, accessing, collecting, storing. Businesses are doing that and spending a lot of money doing a lot of that. Through to insight. And it's that through to insight piece for real business benefit. That's where you're a data active company.

So just holding loads of data, that doesn't make you data active. It might make you data rich but not necessarily value rich from it. So one business and- and sometimes we can think of this in the sense of SMEs, might be the sort of particular businesses case in point, but for anyone who's worked in a big business, we all know that big businesses can be using data better too and it's a real struggle, particularly with additional challenges perhaps around, you know, turning circles of organizations like that or legacy systems.

So I just thought it'd be helpful to pick on a particular business, Zurich Insurance, so they knew they needed to transform. They didn't have a great deal of resource to do so. And I think there's a lot of businesses who are in that position right now. So I thought it might be helpful just to think about a couple of things they did.

Chad Watt: Sure. Tell us a little bit about the company. Tell us a little bit just for those who might not be familiar with Zurich. What's their main line of business?

Naomi Weir: So they're an insurance company. They're kind of relatively large and the particular challenge that they were looking at here was thinking about in the kinda customer service and claims area. So quite kinda focused in and perhaps relatively broadly applicable for quite a few businesses out there who will have an equivalent type of service. So they were in a constrained resource environment and they needed to use data to unlock some of the efficiencies but also help their team provide a better customer service.

And lots of that involved things to do with skills. Also things to do with actual transformation, uh, of the infrastructure within the business. So in terms of the situation, data had been important for their claim scene but often really manual. Reporting was kind of a laborious process in quite a small team. They had limited budget for a transformation project and they really knew that they needed to invest in quality of data and tools and infrastructure but also in skills to be able to embed this in their business.

So they audited their tech processes, reviewed their ways of working, had some new delivery methods and importantly, and this is one thing that often doesn't get done, is they decided what they were gonna stop doing to give them the head room to do some of the stuff they knew they needed to do. So in their case, they decided to look at what their non-value ad reporting was and just stop it to give the team head room in order to do the stuff they knew was important.

And then on the skills side of things, really realizing they needed to develop a pipeline of future skills and that's something every business is after, particularly in this digital space. So rather than going out to market, they launched a data academy internally, data apprenticeship and they gave that to all employees in their claims team so all of them were then upskilled and going on this journey together.

Specifically on data, they held a bunch of data in, uh, databases on standalone PCs, uh, with your cloud hat on, you'll be (laughs) marveling at that. But that's the case for so many businesses. And so they rehoused that in a cloud based data size platform and that, you know, that's an entire rebuild. That's where some of the investment went into. But, you know, you're in pretty frequency and granularity of data and quality of input. Like, we're in use 'cause of the data we have and can access. So that's a big- the build piece they did on data.

And then lots of that then around awareness and training on quality of data. They helped, you know, time-poor claims handlers. If your frontline staff have no time, that actually, you know, using some of the Google transport data, for example, to help them back up some of their road use stuff during the pandemic and some of the trends they were seeing in their claims that they were receiving in on road traffic or thinking about data visualization tools and how to join up some of those different datasets. So that really kinda transformed the service they were able to provide.

And I guess a lesson they learned was they underestimated how long it would take to implement. I think we've all done that before. So that's a lesson to learn but they got up to five percent direct expense savings longer term from it and identified actions to about a 15 percent improvement in customer satisfaction. So that's obviously then a return into your customer base for future years. So a really worthwhile thing with lots of learning but also really transforming the capabilities of that business and those individuals as well.

Chad Watt: That's really terrific. Yeah. And insurance is such a data rich business. It's a great place to start but certainly these, you know, apply across a wide range of industries. And the Knowledge Institutes data and AI report launched in November 2022, we needed to think about data differently and asked, people to come up with a- kind of a different metaphor for data. There was a one old standard of data is the new oil. You have to extract it, refine it, load it, combust it in some way to make some value come out of it. Can you give me a different metaphor for data? How companies should think about data?

Naomi Weir: Sure. Yeah. There were some interesting ones in that report. I'm thinking about the kind of implications of each.

Chad Watt: Oh, you can take one of those if you want too. (laughs)

Naomi Weir: Well, I had a different thought. I wondered. They kind of work together. One or the other. But either air or water. So there's a sense in which it's all around us. It's quite a kinda common commodity but it's great when it's used well but it's also potentially explosive. So air, to put out a fire might cause you some problems, or water on your electrics. You're gonna be in trouble. But equally, the trouble is, I- I was thinking this as businesses, in the context we're discussing, often we're either a fish out of water or we're drowning in data.

So we're completely surrounded but actually, it's actively killing us. So, I just wondered whether that's where the need for transformation comes in and that's what a lot of this conversations about. So actually, we need to be conditioned to excel in that environment and many businesses are just losing out 'cause they're not. So, air or water were my pitch for the metaphor.

Chad Watt: Let's shift gears and talk a little bit about getting digital in innovation and connecting with green initiatives. I know that's been a priority for you all. And the British government has advocated for a green industrial revolution. How does CBI and how do you connect digital innovation and going green?

Naomi Weir: Sure. And it's completely linked to this conversation we've had about data and insights. Right? So for businesses, the more you can understand about what's going on in your business, the more you're able to be agile and react and one of the big things facing our businesses is both an imperative coming down the track from customers, consumers, from some regulation, from some from a king of environmental imperative to act on being more green.

So CBI's done a bit of a project this year called Be More Green and it's a campaign we've run in partnership with CGI, really supporting businesses to get started and move along their green innovation journeys. And there's really lots of overlaps between that and making the most of your data. So in many of our conversations, we hear about the role data plays in helping businesses to understand, plan and to manage pressures of reaching net zero but as well as for many businesses, understanding the impacts of changing climate on them as well.

Chad Watt: In terms of major technology and innovation, looking ahead in 2023, where do you see a big innovation breakthrough coming? This is your chance to do your mega trends. Your trends for the year.

Naomi Weir: It's a good question. I mean, even towards the back end of 2022, there's some of the exciting year end innovation excitement around things like nuclear fusion and other areas like that where it's really exciting to see, uh, as someone who loves science and innovation, seeing progress being made. But when it comes to actual breakthroughs that affect businesses, that's still a long way off but it's exciting.

Chad Watt: Yeah. But there's actually actual businesses doing fusion. It's- yes, there's science labs but there's actually businesses being constructed on this. I think it's fascinating. But carry on.

Naomi Weir: For me, I think some of the big trends are gonna be technology trends. For them to be of most use. It's where they're really meeting a need that businesses are facing. And I think for me, a massive one is around productivity. So particularly in the UK, we're seeing a really tight labor market that's actually, you wouldn't necessarily expect given the economics right now. There's demographics. There's all sorts going on and that's quite global in the West.

And so I think this idea of thinking about productivity and technologies that are really gonna transform that for businesses, I think businesses have woken up to the need for that. It can't just be a kind of increased labor in for productivity. We need to think about whole business model transformation in order to make the most of productivity and harnessing technology. And that's where AI in particular comes into play and so I think that's one where we see it being used in small parts across businesses really, really widely. We see some businesses really embedding it within their whole strategy and processes. But I think for the year ahead, I think that's one where actually the- I hope but also I'd love to see broader strategic adoption of AI really embedded across businesses. Not just in the tech businesses that we're talking about but actually right across sectors. And that would be really transformational for business.

Chad Watt: Well, Naomi. I'm an optimist by nature and I want you to kind of give me the best of all possible scenarios. Kinda describe what advances you think businesses can make in 2023 by doing better with their data.

Naomi Weir: So you can cut your energy bill by thinking about your efficiencies and you can have some head room to invest in some other exciting stuff. You can help grow the productivity of your workforce by thinking about how you can be investing in productivity enhancing technology. But one of the brilliant spill over benefits of that is things to do with employee and staff satisfaction, the likelihood to grow your retention, thinking about your brand presence as well as a greener and better employer. Actually, all of those things can help boost your business as well. So some of those spill over benefits.

And then I think there's really the kinda data for some of those specific like, landmark projects as well. Actually, if you're thinking about your strategy and the direction you need to take, ensuring that you're using your data well to understand and form your strategy of where you're gonna go next has to be the big one for businesses making the most of their data.

Chad Watt: You're painting a great picture. I mean, let's use our data to make a leaner, more efficient, more productive company with happier workers. I mean, sign me up. That's the way to go. Thank you, Naomi. Thank you very much for your time and insights today.

Naomi Weir: It's been a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.

Chad Watt: This podcast is part of our collaboration with MIT Tech Review. In partnership with Infosys Cobalt. Visit our content hub on technologyreview.com to learn more about how businesses across the globe are moving from cloud chaos to cloud clarity. Be sure to follow Ahead in the Cloud wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more details in our show notes and transcripts at infosys.com/iki. That's in our podcast section.

Thanks to our producers, Catherine Burdette, Christine Calhoun, and Yulia De Bari. Dode Bigley is our audio technician and I'm Chad Watt with the Knowledge Institute signing off. Until next time, keep learning and keep sharing.