Centre stage with Antonio Cobo, Delivery Manager at BJSS
What does your day to day role entail?
Depending on the client, right now we are implementing metrics to help teams spot where they should focus to improve their day to day work.
What’s been your biggest work achievement of the last 12 months?
I introduced agile principles to a team completely new to them, it might look like it's not a big achievement but for sure it is one that gave me the best feeling, helping others to become better should always be the best achievement for anybody.
What is the biggest challenge facing the industry?
The need to quickly adapt to new ways of working while exploring how to get the most from AI and Big Data. What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given? Always be honest and transparent with what you are doing, it will lead to gaining the trust of others, allowing you to have the autonomy to work on your own. What are your predictions for the IT industry for 2020/21 or beyond? Increased focus on AI and use of Big Data analysis to drive business strategy.
Why do you think everybody is talking about AI being important for digital transformation but companies are still reluctant to invest?
Lots of companies are afraid of change, whether it was before with Digital transformation or now with AI. We all need to adapt to new ways of working and new technology in order to evolve and transition our business to still be competitive.
Do you think GDPR has impacted your role in a big way since its introduction?
Not a big impact on my role other than more Data maintenance/migration projects to manage.
What does digital transformation mean to you – what in your opinion is most important to a successful implementation?
Companies need to evolve in order to ensure they keep their place in the market, but they need to do it according to their own context and with a mind-set open to try new things. Several companies have a record of failed transformation because they blindly follow frameworks which were successful for other companies. There are no magic frameworks that work for every context or company, you need to understand that, and then inspire a culture of trying new things quickly in order to find your new ways of working.