IBM
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
IBM’S BLUEPRINT FOR A DATA-DRIVEN ENTERPRISE
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IBM’S BLUEPRINT FOR A DATA-DRIVEN ENTERPRISE
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L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y
Inderpal Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer, discusses data and cognitive transformation strategies and the role of the Chief Data Officer
“ T
o be a good Chief Data Officer is a true craft; when I walk into an organisation I immerse myself in the business strategy
and the detailed end-to-end business processes to know exactly what I’m going to implement, the strategy behind it, measure how well it’s going to unfold and the milestones to be hit,” says Inderpal 04
Bhandari, IBM’s Global Chief Data Officer. With more than 20 years of experience transforming industry-leading organisations, Bhandari has defined the scope, expectations, and deliverables of the modern Chief Data Officer role. Indeed, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest he is the Chief Data Officer. Bhandari is a recognised expert in transforming data into business value. He improves customer experiences by delivering strategic and innovative capabilities that use data-driven insights to enable growth and streamline productivity. Most recently, he has been doing so at IBM. Bhandari joined the global tech leader in December 2015 to lead IBM’s data strategy and to drive its internal data and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation. This work,
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L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y
“ Our aim was to transform IBM into a data and AI enterprise”
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His experience and an intimate knowledge of what an effective Chief Data Officer can deliver took shape in the trenches of corporate America where data was becoming the new natural resource. “I became the very
— Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM
first CDO in the healthcare industry in
which Bhandari joined us to discuss
on in the profession – at that point
in more detail, has culminated in the
there were four of us globally. Today
company’s Data and AI Enterprise
the role has expanded massively with
Blueprint – a roadmap for IBM clients
thousands of CDOs, Chief Analytics
to use when embarking on their own
Officers and Chief Digital Officers,
data and AI journeys.
and I’ve been fortunate to have been
2006, and was an entrepreneur in data products before that. It was very early
at the forefront from the very beginning, learning, and understanding the profession. “Data is a hugely valuable asset and so the importance of the role has transformed within enterprises,” he continues. “My experiences enabled me to contribute to multiple
IBM - DATA STRATEGY CLICK TO WATCH
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2:18
09 organisations while honing the craft
to the cloud – cloud computing has
of using data and technology to fuel
been a major game changer at the
the powerful and complex transforma-
industry level,” he states, expanding
tions that enterprises are undergoing.”
on the technology evolution that has shaped today’s landscape. “And with
TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSFORMATION: DRIVING CHANGE
that came a heightened focus on
Understandably, during his career
which remain core areas for any CDO.
Bhandari has been at the forefront
Once the resources become available
of technological innovation. He has
through cloud or, more recently, hybrid
also seen data evolve to become a
cloud, AI and many of the devices
crucial success factor for the mod-
at the ‘edge’ can and will come into
ern enterprise.
play, such as robotic technology, the
“The rapid change we’re seeing today really started with the journey
cybersecurity, data privacy and ethics,
Internet of Things (IoT), and autonomous vehicles.” w w w.i b m . com
L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y
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The ability to keep ‘building’ on
terms of transforming their businesses.
the hybrid cloud, says Bhandari, will
Leaders and organisations all over the
accelerate the adoption of AI as part
world have come to realise that it’s not
of enterprise transformation. Other
a question of ‘should we do it’, but a
important technologies that will be
question of ‘when do we do it’. If you
adopted include 5G and blockchain,
don’t, you’ll very quickly be irrelevant.”
which he says has the potential to “It’s a rapidly changing industry. But
IBM: THE CDO’S BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE
with that, comes an acute awareness
When Bhandari joined IBM five years
and willingness on the part of the
ago, his role was specifically created
c-suite and enterprises to gain a much
to facilitate the mission of transform-
greater understanding of what these
ing IBM into a Data and AI enterprise.
trends and technologies can do in
He built a transformation strategy
transform data and data ownership.
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Inderpal Bhandari Title: Global Chief Data Officer Company: IBM Corporation Industry: Information Technology & Services
Location: New York
Inderpal Bhandari rejoined IBM as Global Chief Data Officer in December 2015. In this newly created role, he has leveraged his extensive experience to lead the development of IBM’s data strategy and drive IBM’s internal data and AI enterprise transformation. The work has culminated in the Data and AI Enterprise Blueprint; a roadmap for IBM’s clients on their own transformation journeys. Inderpal brings to IBM more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at such leading companies as Cambia Health Solutions and Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions. Prior to joining IBM, Inderpal served as Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Cambia Health Solutions where he led the development of Cambia’s data strategy and drove the transformation of the company’s consumer experience strategies. Prior to that, Inderpal served as Vice President
of knowledge solutions and Chief Data Officer at Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions, where he was responsible for maximizing the utility of the company’s data and its readiness to respond to emerging market trends. Before that, he founded Virtual Gold, growing the company into an international market leader for analytics in call centers and professional sports. Inderpal is an expert in transforming data into business value and improved customer experiences by delivering strategic, innovative capabilities that use analytic insights to enable growth and productivity. In 2017, he was named U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year by the CDO Club, and has been featured as an industry expert by Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, US News & World Report, CNN and FOX. Inderpal earned his Master of Science Degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. w w w.i b m . com
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L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y
IBM - ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE CLICK TO WATCH
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1:43
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roadmap based on three steps:
the company is going to make money,
develop a clear data strategy; execute
maximise business impact, and delight
enterprise-wide data governance and
customers,” he explains. “In IBM’s case
management systems; and become the
it was clear that we were going to make
central data and AI framework for the
money primarily from best-in-class AI
IBM enterprise.
and hybrid multi-cloud offerings. But
The first is crucial for any enterprise
it wasn’t clear what AI meant for an
embarking on such a journey and starts
enterprise or how to go about it. Thus
with one straightforward question:
we thought why not make IBM itself into
what is your company’s monetisation
an AI enterprise and use it as a show-
strategy? This is, says Bhandari, key to
case for our clients.” Bhandari created
a successful data strategy. “Any data
a dedicated team that consists of
strategy has to be tied to the business
world-class data and AI specialists who
strategy, and that revolves around how
collaborate across the entire business.
JUNE 2020
“ To be a good Chief Data Officer is a true craft” — Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM
IBM’s Data and AI Blueprint encompasses technology, organisational considerations, data, and business process transformation. For example, cognitive services give the ability to see and contextualise across all data as well as infuse insights into the work-
Next, the focus rested on consolidat-
flow of business processes. Hybrid
ing critical enterprise data and making
cloud solutions encompassing public
it available as a service. Rapid inte-
cloud, private cloud and on-premise
gration of critical data into a single,
environments, provide enterprise cloud
consolidated data platform can bring
container support while implementing
unprecedented connection and is
and enforcing security standards
the moment, Bhandari says, where a
and privacy policies. Further, the
data strategy ‘really comes alive.’ He
convergence and curation of data that
adds that a unified data platform is the
would have previously been siloed and
fundamental enabler of advanced AI
fragmented across an organisation,
solutions in an organisation, and brings
to create a reliable and trusted source
new business capabilities, drives effi-
that AI systems can build upon.
ciency and top-line improvement. “Our aim was to transform IBM into a Data and AI enterprise,” he notes. According to Bhandari, AI systems – all of which are underpinned by data – have four main attributes: they learn from data, they support forms of expression more natural for human interaction, their primary value is their expertise, and their learning evolves continuously as they encounter new information or scenarios. w w w.c o mpa nywwe w w.i bsite. b m . com
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IBM
“ Cloud computing has been a major game changer at industry level” 14
— Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM
Cognition also brings distinct advantages to points of business that require significant human judgement. In Bhandari’s Global Chief Data Office, for example, several projects utilise IBM’s Data and AI Platform. “As an example,” he adds, “take a role within our business, which essentially revolves around an employee having to classify whether a client that we’re working with is a government-owned entity. We hold ourselves to very high standards, and so that kind of classification and judgement is crucial. We have to get it right. Previously, that classification would have involved research, communication with other parties and eventually arriving at the classification. This is a perfect example of where AI comes into its own. Using our IBM Watson capabilities, we can now access historical data as to how we have previously labelled companies, and we can sift and monitor real-time information about those same businesses. “That capability makes the decision more quickly, accurately and improves efficiency of the work,” he continues. “As an example, it may be at a lower w w w.i b m . com
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How the IBM Integrated Analytics System Helps You Do Data Science Faster CLICK TO WATCH
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1:51
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“ We have to work AI into every business process, whether it’s supply chain, finance, marketing, accounts payable. There’s no area it can’t bring significant advantage to” — Inderpal Bhandari, Global Chief Data Officer, IBM
level in terms of the vast amounts of activity we undertake at IBM, but you multiply it one million-fold across every significant business decision that we make, and you have an insight into the potential of AI. That’s what I envisioned when I began this journey – we have to work AI into every business process, whether it’s supply chain, finance, marketing, accounts payable. There’s no area it can’t bring significant value to.” The challenge, says Bhandari, is for enterprises to undertake that scaling of data and AI solutions. Core to that,
he says, is a strong central function
quickly ramp up their AI solutions and
which is the role that he and his imme-
processes and drive business value
diate team provide. However, he also
covering areas including data strategy
adds that in his experience, many
and architecture, automating business
organisations are still in the early
metadata, data privacy and trust, and
stages of their AI adoption journey.
AI applications.
IBM’s learnings from its data and AI
“When I started the Global Chief Data
transformation form the basis of how
Office at IBM, we were effectively at
IBM interacts with clients.
‘ground zero’ in terms of this,” Bhandari
Take the company’s AI Enterprise
notes. “But our success allows us to
Accelerator as an example. This col-
share and take it to a completely new
laborative cross-enterprise initiative
level for both internal transformation
builds on IBM’s AI transformation
and with our clients. Our Enterprise
and is designed to help leaders
Data and AI platform was established
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L E A D E R S H I P & S T R AT E G Y
1911
Year founded
$79.59bn+ Revenue in US dollars
350,000 18
Number of employees
at the end of 2017 and by year end
freely admits to adopting a ‘fail fast’
2019 we had over 100,000 active
approach to his role and mission at
users on it internally, who were infus-
IBM and is not afraid to admit – even
ing AI into their business processes,
with his experience – that he and his
and several clients replicating these
team are always learning. “If you are
use cases externally. That’s a really
the CDO then you must be aware it’s
high rate of adoption for both internal
a transformation role and you are
use and by our customers.”
primarily a change agent,” he explains. “You have to change the enterprise to
A BLUEPRINT FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS
transform it, so the data and AI blue-
Any transformation journey is an
print that we developed has all of the
ongoing process, even with a CDO as
aspects that any change agent should
capable as Bhandari at the helm. He
focus on.
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“You use the data and the technol-
data comes from millions of devices
ogy to affect the change, of course, but
at the edge. That and technologies
there’s also the people and culture fac-
such as quantum computing have the
tor that is equally important. You can’t
potential to revolutionise everything
neglect any aspect of that blueprint if
we do. It’s an exciting prospect and a
you want to succeed. Technology will
very exciting time for Chief Data and
continue to evolve, and so we must
Technology Officers at the forefront
evolve too. The move to the hybrid
of these transformations.”
cloud is only accelerating, for example, and things like cybersecurity, privacy and data ownership will become more and more relevant. Similarly, edge computing will be a critical driver as w w w.i b m . com
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