Jean Sebastien Charest - The Most Important Factors in Digital Transformation Success

Summary

In this video by WatSPEED - University of Waterloo, Jean Sebastien Charest shares key insights on successful digital transformation. He emphasizes the importance of focusing beyond the digital surface of apps and websites, urging businesses to dive into underlying data and processes. Charest uses a compelling iceberg analogy to illustrate that true digital transformation requires integration and automation below the surface. He advises companies to establish client journeys and incrementally automate processes to avoid outdated implementations. Additionally, Charest highlights the need for a seamless omnichannel experience, stressing how essential it is for organizations to meet modern consumer expectations.

Highlights

• Digital transformations shouldn't just focus on apps and websites; they need to delve into data and process improvement. 📉
• Using an iceberg analogy, the visible part is just apps, but underneath lies your data and processes. 🧊
• Establishing client journeys and using data for personalized experiences can drive digital success. 📈
• Avoid automating the entire system at once; start with a feasible section and expand. 🚀
• Meet customers where they are by ensuring a flawless omnichannel experience. 🙌

Key Takeaways

• Successful digital transformation requires more than just digital interfaces; it involves improving data usage and process automation beneath the surface. 📊
• Incremental automation of processes is essential to avoid delivering outdated solutions. 🔄
• A seamless omnichannel experience is crucial to meet customer expectations. 🌐

Overview

Jean Sebastien Charest dives deep into what makes digital transformation successful, stressing that it's not all about flashy apps and websites. He uses the iceberg analogy to explain that most of the work in digital transformation happens beneath the surface, where data management and process optimization take place.🏔️

Charest highlights the importance of designing client journeys as a first step in digital transformation. These journeys should use data for personalization and incrementally improve by automating processes, rather than trying to overhaul the whole system in one go. This approach prevents delivering outdated technology by the time it's fully implemented. 🛠️

A critical point made is the need for a seamless omnichannel experience. Customers today expect fluid interactions across platforms, whether they're engaging via apps, webpages, or in person. Therefore, ensuring that digital transformations cater to these expectations is essential for an organization’s success. 🌍

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Digital Transformation Factors The chapter titled 'Introduction to Digital Transformation Factors' explores the critical components necessary for a successful digital transformation program. It addresses key questions such as the essential factors to consider in managing digital transformations and areas where attention should be concentrated. The chapter suggests that identifying and addressing the most significant flaws is crucial to the success of digital transformation initiatives.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Misunderstanding Digital Transformation Digital transformation is often misunderstood due to its association with visible digital elements like apps, websites, and robots. These are merely the surface of what constitutes a truly digital organization. The iceberg analogy is used to illustrate that these visible components are just the tip, while the true essence of digital transformation lies beneath the surface and involves much more than just the obvious digital tools.
• 01:00 - 01:30: The Iceberg Analogy The chapter discusses the Iceberg Analogy, explaining how the visible part of an organization (like the tip of an iceberg) is just a small portion of the whole. Below the surface are vital components such as data and processes. Emphasizing the importance of digital transformation, it highlights that organizations need to deeply understand and utilize data to enhance client experiences and personalize services better. The analogy serves as a metaphor for the unseen but crucial elements that drive a successful digital organization.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Data and Processes in Digital Transformation The chapter seems to focus on understanding the interaction between different layers necessary for delivering a comprehensive user experience in digital transformation. It uses examples like discount brokerage and platforms like Robin Hood to illustrate how focusing only on one aspect, such as the top end, may not suffice. The idea is to provide a full cycle interaction across all layers to ensure a complete and satisfactory user experience.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Client Journey and Automation The chapter discusses the process of opening an online account with a discount brokerage firm, drawing parallels to services like Wealthsimple. Initially, the online account opening is smooth and efficient. However, once the account is opened, challenges arise when the user wants to execute trades. The process becomes cumbersome as it requires transferring funds and logging into the banking account, highlighting the need for a seamless client journey and improved automation in financial services.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Personalization and Incremental Automation In the chapter titled 'Personalization and Incremental Automation,' the discussion revolves around the manual process involved in transferring funds from a checking account to a brokerage account. Users must add their created account, initiate the transfer, and then wait for 48 hours due to the lack of an automated system in the back office. Despite effectively managing certain aspects (described metaphorically as 'very good outside the water'), there are significant underlying inefficiencies (described as 'a lot under the water'). The chapter also hints at strategies for improving delivery and addressing these manual processes, although the details on these strategies are not provided in the transcript.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Modern Expectations for Digital Organizations The chapter discusses the importance of creating an initial 'client journey' for digital organizations, emphasizing that automation might not be achievable immediately. It highlights the need to start with a simpler process as certain tasks, like opening brokerage accounts or margin accounts, or trading options, have varying levels of complexity compared to trading stocks.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Omnichannel Experience The chapter discusses the importance of creating a personalized and automated omnichannel experience for clients. By using client data to tailor the onboarding process and client interactions, companies can better meet client needs and expectations, such as trading and stock management. The chapter advises against attempting to automate the entire process at once, suggesting instead a focused approach to deliver timely and relevant solutions.
• 06:00 - 07:00: The Role of Technology and Change This chapter discusses the evolving role of technology in everyday life and organizational changes. It highlights how digital organizations have transformed our habits, illustrating with examples such as the routine of taking keys, wallet, and mobile when leaving the house. The influence of major tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook is also noted, particularly in how they've integrated technology into daily routines, such as using navigation apps like Waze in the car.
• 07:00 - 07:30: Conclusion and Closing Thoughts The chapter 'Conclusion and Closing Thoughts' wraps up the discussion, emphasizing adaptation to digital trends for traditional organizations. It highlights the necessity for companies to align with digital conveniences that customers already experience in other areas of their lives, such as through Google or their banking apps. This alignment involves acknowledging and aspiring to meet the seamless, integrated user experiences that modern consumers expect, even if becoming exactly like Google is not the end goal. This summary reiterates the importance of understanding customer expectations and integrating digital solutions into traditional frameworks to remain competitive.

Jean Sebastien Charest - The Most Important Factors in Digital Transformation Success Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 what do you think are the most important factors uh in a successful digital transformation program so when someone thinks about managing their own digital transformation where do you think they should put most attention what are the things that they should see as being the most important things to do yeah i think i think the biggest flaw in
• 00:30 - 01:00 digital transformation it's that it has the word digital into it because people they they associate digital to apps and websites and robots of sorts but you're to be a truly digital organization you know i like to to use like the iceberg analogy where the apps and the websites and you know whatever sticks out of the water that's what's visible right that's what's visible from your clients
• 01:00 - 01:30 but underneath the water you have a first huge chunk which is your data you know how do you use this data to have a better client experience be more insightful be more personalized than your and what sticks out and underneath that even bigger are your processes so if you want to be a digital organization which should be you know one of the the outcomes of of a digital transformation really have to truly look at
• 01:30 - 02:00 these three layers and how do you start delivering experiences that are able to go do a full round trip within these three layers to deliver on the experience because if you only focus on the top end let's say for instance i've seen um organization like uh discount brokerage right so you you wanna like so your students are probably more used to robin hood of this world or or discount brokerage of sorts but you know all the chartered banks they have
• 02:00 - 02:30 discount brokerage and so i've seen example i like this example where there was this this this bank that was offering an online account opening so you would you know quickly swift through the different processes like you would do on wealthsimple very easy to onboard so what sticks out of the iceberg very good but then once the account is opened what do you want to do you want to trade well then you need to transfer funds ah then you need to log in to your banking account and then on the bank you must
• 02:30 - 03:00 add the account that you created there then you must do transfer and then you have to wait 48 hours before the funds are there because the back office hasn't automated this process of depositing funds that you transferred from your checking account to your brokerage account so very good outside the water but you left a lot under the water um so so how do you how do you go about you know wanting to deliver this there's sort of two things right um maybe you will not
• 03:00 - 03:30 be able to automate everything day one but you at least you know need to come up with a first iteration what i will call a client journey right you need to establish a first client journey that says hey maybe it's harder to open join brokerage accounts or maybe it's harder to open you know accounts that you can you can trade uh with with margin account right so it's different you need credit or trading options is harder than trading stocks right so find something that is easier
• 03:30 - 04:00 and then on board your clients that fits this eligibility use your data to bring a personalized experience and then automate the process so that you put yourself in the client's eyes and what do you want to do i want to trade i want money to be there i want to see that i'm buying stock and it's there and you know they want to have it so think about these ways because if you try to automate the whole iceberg it's going to take you five years and maybe in five years you'll deliver something that was
• 04:00 - 04:30 a good idea five years ago so so that would be number one number two digital organizations i mean you know people leaving their house in the morning it's keys wallet mobile right so so so today every people are used to this the the the the large gaff arms and so that your your google amazons facebook and sorts they they they got us hooked on knowing that i'll get in the car and i'll plug it and waze will be there and
• 04:30 - 05:00 i'll have a reminder that my flight is in two hours and there's traffic on the highway like i'm used to this right so so so as a more traditional organization that wants to become digital you you don't want to be google but you at least have to to to look how your clients because you know the people they don't make a difference right they open google they open their banking app you know you're on your phone your bank app is probably
• 05:00 - 05:30 the only app you haven't chose right because because you bank with td you download the td app right you're not going to open a checking account with to see if their app is good so you so it's it's on us to deliver the best experience and and you know we we we must deliver also on the omnichannel experience because large banks fis we have the branches we have physical channel we have call centers which is direct channels we have websites so you don't want your your client to feel as if they're the quarterback of their
• 05:30 - 06:00 story you you want to be able to deliver on a frictionless omnichannel experience where if they decide to start something on their mobile i want to apply for a mortgage on my mobile that's up to me right that's the interaction the channel that i chose but you know if done the experience i have questions or i'm stuck and it's written 1 800 you know mortgage and i click on it i don't want the person answering the
• 06:00 - 06:30 phone saying hi js how can i help you well you know i started a mortgage online okay what rate did we give you what are you looking for you you want this to be without channel breach you want this channel to say hi jess i see you started to apply for a mortgage online how can i help you and continue the experience there that's the expectation for digital so i don't know if you noticed but there's technology in what i said but there is a lot of change in the way that you want to become
• 06:30 - 07:00 one bank or one organization throughout your different channels and and that's that's where the bulk of the uh of the challenge is yeah very very valuable advice and uh you