Brian Fitzpatrick - Keeping up with the evolution of digital transformation

In today's episode, we'll be discussing the evolution of digital information and how businesses can efficiently and successfully keep up with it. So Brian, welcome to the show. Very happy to have you here today with us. Anything to add before we dive into the questions?

Brian Fitzpatrick: No, I think you've captured it. It's great to be here, Tim.

Tim Butara: Awesome.

Awesome. Happy to have you here. As I said, and I think that the topic is great. And obviously you have a lot of experience in the field. So I want to start off by you sharing some of your own experiences and, and like stuff you've seen of how technology and digitization have evolved. And maybe also what is kind of the main characteristic of the stage of digital transformation that we are currently in.

Brian Fitzpatrick: Absolutely. Well, I I've had the benefit of being around for over 50 years in this earth. So I've seen a lot of quite a lot of change from a technology perspective. And I always kid that I started my career, my tech career at a, at a little tiny tech firm called EDS. And I, I kid about that because at the time it was the second largest technology company in the world.

And it, it really gave me the opportunity to see how big companies operate. And it really was almost like the first formation of the SAS industry. You know, we used to call it the application service provider, but that was really the precursor to software as a service because software as a service, but really paved the way for that.

Was the internet error of the 1990s and as that really started to to advance, it created major changes that impacted technical design and, and business operations. So I like to say it was, it gave us the ability to go from monoliths to microservices where we are today. And, you know, if you look at sort of that evolution, we started out with big giant mainframe systems.

Right. And even in my last industry, I spent 30 years in the mortgage tech side and the largest mortgage servicing system. That's still operational today in that space, servicing most of the largest institutions in American mortgage market is a mainframe system. So, you know, if you think about it, you know, we really started with these monolithic architectures, you know, built as a single tightly coupled, a unit of technology where everything was, you know, in one giant code base.

And then we really started to see a shift towards more modular and distributed architecture, you know, and I, and this is where I've written a lot of white papers on about microservices and. Component based architecture and enterprise service buses. And so that was really it. We, we started to migrate to that component based development and a resurgence of interest in changing of this software development methodologies, which led us really to cloud computing and serverless type environments.

I mean, I remember my first tech companies that we were constantly worried about. Did we have enough computing power? You know, it was like, we got to, we got to get more pizza boxes. You know, we got to get more, more computing power in the, in the data center. We got this new client coming on. So the, the, the business had to constantly being forecasting with the sales team and be ready in time to be able to take on a new client.

So when we got to really, you know, cloud computing, it really started to modify things. And, and it's sort of all of that sort of paved the way for what I think the main characteristics of the current stage of, of what has led to now digital transformation. And, you know, I think sort of your question is what is sort of the main characteristic of that, you know, in the current stage, but I think there's more than one, I think there's, there's foundational technologies that are leading the way to enable.

True digital transformation and also things like everybody's talking about machine learning and AI and blockchain and all these great things. Well, guess what? There has to, there had to have been an evolution of technology to become the foundational underpinnings to be able to move these things into rapid and agile development.

So the first thing is really the adoption of agile methodologies and DevOps practices has really influenced software architecture, which from a business perspective, like as a CEO, that's constantly trying to drive new innovation. It's given us this opportunity for flex, flexible, iterative approaches to design and development.

And even in DevOps to be able to respond quickly. So not only develop the technology quickly, but move it into practice quickly. So that's been a very important, I think, cause I started out of course, in the waterfall software development life cycle methodology, the traditional way, but then being able to move to agile has been really, really critical.

And then I think data driven architectures. So what's in, you know, everybody talks about big data, but if you don't have the right software architecture to enable large scale data processing and analysis, then, you know, it's, it's not even, you know, going to work. So by using, even like we've seen the emergence of NoSQL models, like MongoDB, CouchDB, and even being able to handle large amounts of data with JSON formats and Bison formats, and where each.

You know, document contains these nested structures. So that is really created a lot of innovation around data. Now, the reason I'm talking about these is because like, let's talk about AI. AI is not going to work if you don't feed it data. So you have to have the right underpinning of architecture to be able to, to amass that data, gather the data, amass the data.

And then feed it to those engines. And that really gets into another foundational underpinning, which is integration interoperability. So I'm a big believer in the API economy. I've been talking about that for years because you know, when we've moved away from these monoliths. We're able to create microservices and we're able to create microservices, which instead of having this big giant monolithic technology, we've got these little individual pieces of functionality that operate almost as its own little tiny microsystem, right?

And, and having a library of those functions that can easily be accessed through API gives the business such great flexibility. In generating revenue and, and implementing new technologies, because the old day used to be rip and replace. We literally would have to go over and blow up some big monolithic system and replace it with another big monolithic system.

And you know, and that was expensive, risky, time consuming. So now we can do that in a series of microservices. And the other thing that I'm seeing in a very, very big way is people Particularly in the industry we serve, which is the sort of the nutraceutical dietary supplements, cannabis, CBD industry, security, and compliance is so critically important in that industry, but in many industries now that are highly regulated, because now not only do you have to have this functionality.

And the digital transformation, but it has to drive compliant activity. So it has to take your business standards and your operating procedures and standards and your compliance rules and actually put them in action. So you, you know, like in, in my industry, you know, for e commerce, you can't get away, for example, with using Shopify for an e commerce system, because that system will allow you to break the law very easily.

So, you know, In, in our industry, like we have a purpose driven e commerce platform that has all of that compliance and security built in its DNA. So it's very, very important. And I think that you can't slow down your business because you're in a rapidly changing compliance driven industry. And in cannabis world, I mean, it's like, There's things coming out every single day and CBD and nutraceuticals.

It's constantly changing. So you need that agility. And I think that the last To me, I'm a big believer that we're living in the conceptual age right now. So I'm a Daniel pink fan and, you know, Daniel talks about the, the conceptual age where you got the three A's Asia automation and abundance, right?

Because you can either outsource it. You know, right. So we've gone, we we're constantly figuring out things, business processes that we can outsource, but we're also looking at automation first, which is the other A. So think about how automation has changed so many industries like legalzoom.com. Before you have to call an attorney.

Now you can go to legalzoom.com and start a corporation. So these two a's, which are squarely focused on this left brain linear thinking, has driven this high emphasis. On right brain activity, because we're living in the age of abundance, which is the third a, which means you can't even buy a toilet brush today without it being the Martha Stewart collection, you know, or buy a toaster without it looking really cool on your granite countertop.

So we're used to seeing design at the forefront. So user experience. UI UX is very, very important. And if you don't have the right architecture to support a better user experience, that includes responsive design and multiple devices and platforms that are able to access your technology. You know, it's not like even on mobile, it's not.

Like we can't just develop for iOS anymore, right? We got kiosks, we got big screens in our cars, you know, and that's going to continue. So the ability to access technology at the point of use for a consumer is very, very important. Now I talked about those five things. Foundational things. Notice. I didn't really talk about blockchain and AI very much because it's not that I don't believe in.

I'm a huge believer in, in those technologies, but without these core underpinnings, forget about those, those technologies. If you're, if, if these things haven't evolved to the point we are, We would never be able to take advantage of artificial intelligence. And I'm a big user. I started implementing it in my last company in a very, very large way generative AI, but if I didn't have the right cloud first architecture and all those tools and all those formative types of things and staying on top of that, that movement, those technologies would never work.

Tim Butara: That makes sense. Yeah. It's very much that evolution, as you said. At the beginning, and I'm also really interested in what are Blue Ocean opportunities, if you can explain those maybe, and why are they irrelevant to the current stage of digitization?

Brian Fitzpatrick: Sure. Well, I think I'm a, you know, the Blue Ocean's strategy really is based off of a book by w Chan Kim and Renee.

Forget her last name Mauborgne, I believe it is, but it's a best selling book. And you know, it's, it really, this blue ocean strategy is something I really believe in because all of my technologies have been about finding that blue ocean opportunity. And a blue ocean opportunity is really one whereby.

You know, you're, you're sort of changing the game by making the competition somewhat irrelevant. So you got all these companies over there that are, you know, knife fighting in this very competitive space for a limited, you know, market share, and everybody's doing it kind of the same old way where you have to in the, in the blue ocean, you just have to sort of beat the competition by competing in an existing market space that.

Essentially you're changing the rules of, of how, or, and the way you're approaching this and approaching a market. So you need to have the right technology architecture and infrastructure to be able to accomplish this. I mean, a great example is I remember when, you know, these stitch fix boxes would start appearing on my You know, my doorstep and I say to my wife, what is this stitch fix?

Why do we keep getting these boxes? And she'd be in these, you know, really cool looking outfits, you know, stitch fix, didn't invent buying clothes on the internet, but they innovated in the fashion and retail industry by combining personal style with data science, right? So without that data science integrated into e commerce.

Mhm. They wouldn't have been able to create this opportunity. So they essentially they didn't, they didn't really create. It's not like they were creating a totally new category of clothes on the internet. They were, they were create being a new segment market opportunity within a big category for people to buy clothes.

Online, but do so in a way that was very different than everybody else, because this was tailoring or finding using, using sort of these technologies, you know, data science and to, to find your best look, right? So I think that's a, that's a good example. And, you know, and we're doing that in our company as well, and without the right technologies, it's going to be hard to take advantage of those things and have a leg up on the competition.

Tim Butara: So a blue ocean strategy would definitely be very important to a business or a person who wants to, you know, stay relevant, stay competitive among all the changes with all the, with especially with the faster and faster pace of change.

Brian Fitzpatrick: Absolutely. And we're living in an age where, I mean, I know it's cliche to say that we, you know, that we were in this sort of fast pace of change, but it's true.

I mean, it, it's, it's happening. I mean, just in the, what I just described from my mainframe days, the computing power that was in one of those mainframe systems to now what, you know, we can even see in that we're holding in our hand, you know, in a cell phone. It's. It's amazing to really think about. So we are in a very, very fast pace of change.

And in order to, you know, keep up with that, we need the right sort of technology architectures and infrastructures to be able to, to drive a strategy that is differentiated from the competition.

Tim Butara: How about on the people side? So in terms of people and culture, What do we need to do to kind of stay relevant and, and keep up?

Brian Fitzpatrick: That's a great question. It's, you know, one of the things I have to tell you, it's, I'm constantly talking to my wife, you know, when I hear people say, and you know, there's people, friends or family that we'll talk to like, Oh, this technology stuff just drives me crazy. I'm too old for that stuff. I'm, I don't, I don't, I don't want to, you know, You know, that, that's just, and like my, I'm thinking in my head and I don't always say it out loud.

I've gotten better about that, but it's, it's you know, you better retire right now, I feel like saying, like, you know, and some of these people aren't that old, you know, they're still, they're still in the, in the job market. So, you know, I, I think that the, the mo, the most important thing is that it's so critical in this fast, Changing environment to be able to embrace change and innovation.

You know, I remember in my, my last company, you know, talk about digital transformation, you know, that in order to digitally transform anything, change management is, is a, is a critical aspect. You know, it's almost like you have to chain. And lead the mind of the people that are, are working there using the technology.

And I remember we did a big implementation at a, at a mortgage company and his lady came up and I was sort of observing the project team and she said she's going to quit. You know, this is, this is just all too much. And I said, why? And she says, well, I'm used to having this manual loan file, you know, this 700 page loan file in front of me, you know, you've taken that away, you know, and really, if you think about it, like the, the first step was to scan that loan file and create a PDF blob, you know, which was.

Basically, you've, you've all seen them, the 700 page, you know, document that, you know, you're, you're scrolling up and down to find what you need. There was pushback at that, but that was the first stage of, of change. And then the next stage was using our technology, machine learning and OCR. Type technology as a data picker to feed the machine learning engines to actually classify the documents.

So take that 700 page blob and break it up into individual documents. This is the appraisal. This is the mortgage application. These are the pay stubs, et cetera. So you can just click and find it instead of getting seasick going up and down. Well, then the people said, well. Where's my blob, you know, where's my big 700 page diet and like, we're making it easier for you.

You don't need to search anymore. Yes, but I'm so used to this thing. So, you know, and then the next phase was, I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, well, geez, just wait till we get to the next phase, which was pulling data out of those documents and automating the audit decisions that they were manually checklist and doing.

So. You know, then we really got pushed back because we're like, you know, and, and, and it just reminds me so much of I was flying back and forth to Florida in a couple of companies ago. And, you know, of course, since I was flying so much, I had I was flying first class. So I go right up to the first class desk and I, and it was a small airport that I would fly into all the time in Florida.

And I got used to, you know, Seeing this guy, so I, you know, I know his name, I know his kid's names and you know, so he was always smiling and happy. And one day I walk up and the guy literally looked like he, he just, his dog just passed away. So I said, Hey, like Jim, what's going on? And he said, that's what's going on.

And he points to a kiosk. The ticket kiosk. And I said, Oh yeah, yeah, that's pretty cool. That's, I know they're rolling those out here. And he says, it's not cool. You don't understand. That's my job right there. And he's like, and I'm going to lose my job. And I said, Jim, you are looking at this all wrong. I said, what do you know about that machine?

He goes, I don't know anything about it other than it's going to take my job. And I basically said to him, before you go home today, ask your manager for the manual to that machine. Take it home, study it, read it, learn everything there is about that. Then come back and tell him that, you know, everything there is about that machine.

So it was a couple of weeks later. I, you know, I come back and he's not there. And I'm like, Oh, I, I, I'm, I think I got fired. And then it was like, yeah, maybe that was bad advice. So, and it was like two weeks after that, I saw him and he was all smiles again. And I was like, Oh, Jim, I thought, I thought you got fired.

And he's like, no, Brian, guess what? Yeah. I'm now managing these machines. I'm training the other staff. I got a bump in pay. I got a new job. So it really speaks to me and to about the lessons of continuous learning and skilled development. Don't fight the change, embrace the change and the innovation. And let it lead you to the next generation of your career of what you do next.

Because if we have to continually add value in this, in this changing world, and if you're not learning and keeping up with the pace of innovation and keeping yourself relevant, then you might as well just, you know, retire.

Tim Butara: That was a great tip and a great, great example, Brian. And I just have one final, final area that I want to touch upon before we start wrapping things up.

And, you know, throughout this conversation, we've used a lot of these buzzwords that we hear and see so often during these discussions of digitization and digital transformation. And I'm wondering, What do you think about business buzzwords and if they, if you think that they tend to create, you know, artificial and kind of not completely justified hype for certain technologies and certain novelties.

Brian Fitzpatrick: Yes. It's, it's, it's interesting because buzzwords just have always driven me crazy. And in fact, it goes all the way back to when I was at EDS. I remember I, before I was starting as a as a sales manager in a particular division, they wanted as part of my training, they stuck me at one of the largest clients, which was a large bond trading organization.

And the managing director of this company was essentially the CEO was very unhappy with us because this, this thing we were rolling out was just not going well. So EDS sticks me in this as part of the sales training, which was great sales training, by the way, because you, you learn if you're not setting expectations properly in the sales process, what happens, and clearly that's what was happening.

So EDS was famous for buzzwords. You know, it's like they had a dictionary of these things. So I'm a young tech executive. Right. And I'm. So, so what are you gonna do to fix this? So I said, well, listen, I talked to the team, you know, what we're going to do is we're going to use a calm object to pull a files out of, out of the, the mainframe through VSAM file formats.

And then what we're going to do is we're going to convert that into a blob. And then and then we'll create a data record, which we'll attach a GWT to. And. This guy, I thought his head was going to pop off. He had this like, it was this big, tall guy and he had this Southern accent and he goes, I have no idea what you are talking about.

And all I know is none of this stuff works. And I'm very unhappy. So can you speak English? And it really, you know, it really gave me a lesson very early on in my career. That when you're talking to business people, you know, they don't care about buzzwords. They don't, I mean, you talk about AI, it's like, Oh, great.

They want to know what is this going to do for my business? How is this going to transform my business? What, what kind of impact is this going to have? So. I think it's a great way of saying that we really have to be careful about these buzzwords because it really creates a gap between solving understanding and solving the business problem and trying to sound smart.

So I think technologists lose that because this stuff just rolls off the table. You know, and then the other problem is, is you see companies using these buzzwords because it makes them sound smart and makes them sound on top of things. And they're not even using some of this technology, you know, when you dig into it, it's like, so where's the AI, where's, you know, and it's like, oh, well we're not really using it right now.

So I think it's it, all it does is it creates confusion. And really sort of a hype that is unjustified. Remember, as technologists, we have to solve business problems. And if we're not solving business problems or we're not solving a problem for a consumer, then the buzzwords don't matter.

Tim Butara: Do you maybe know the comic Dilbert?

About development. I always like, I don't follow it that regularly, but with the one episode that always stays with me is when the boss comes to him and he's like, Oh yeah, I've read a lot about this blockchain thing and we need to implement a blockchain and Dilbert is like, Oh my God. I think that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

He goes, what color do you want that blockchain? And the boss is like, I think mob has the most RAM.

Brian Fitzpatrick: Oh, I love that. I love that. That's a great way of really smoking people out when they start talking about, just ask a second question that has nothing to do with it and see how they respond. I love it.

Tim Butara: Brian, this was an amazing conversation, amazing tips, amazing insights. If people would like to learn more from you, maybe, or connect with you, what's the best way to reach you online?

Brian Fitzpatrick: Absolutely. You can find us at Qredible Q R E D I B L E. com. And through qredible. com, you'll be able to follow us on LinkedIn.

You'll be able to get onto our, our newsletters. We have a podcast of our own. I actually just started a new newsletter called fits on life. And it's really more about my personal journey. Things that, you know, you see, I have a lot of stories, you know, just stories that I tell and just things that are relevant to business and life.

So look for us at credible Q R E D I B L E. com. Okay.

Tim Butara: Very cool. Thank you again, Brian. This has been really fantastic. Thanks so much for joining us.

Brian Fitzpatrick: Thank you, Tim. It's been a pleasure.

Tim Butara: And well, to our listeners, that's all for this episode. Have a great day, everyone, and stay safe.

Outro:
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