From there, other transformational projects were started, such as Persán Rapid App Development, which has allowed fast developments through global platforms, practically with low code, allowing Cabet and his team to satisfy many needs of transversal processes in a simple and fast way. Then there’s Persán Data Factory, which encompasses the organization’s data-driven and AI strategies and ambitions.
For all this to succeed, it’s necessary to have global and robust processes with people who govern them. “You can’t build a data-driven company with technology alone,” he says. “You have to ensure processes are transversal, that the areas work together, and that all teams function under a common governance model. Technology without processes isn’t worth much.”
The challenge of transformation for CIOs
For Cabet, the primary challenge to transform a company centers on people. “For many years, technology has surpassed the speed of change in organizational structures and is no longer a brake on their transformation,” he says. “Years ago, technology could be missing or not adapted to the specificity of the organization. Now it’s the opposite. It’s the organization that has to be trained and updated in the use and evolution of technology.”
Also, with the growth of cloud and SaaS solutions, all technology is available for any type of company, he adds, so everyone’s able to access tech that was unthinkable years ago. Therefore, a main challenge in digital transformation lies in updating approaches to HR. “To embrace transformation, the technological model has to be supported by processes and all people,” he says. “The magic is being able to create a symbiosis between state-of-the-art technology and the know-how that each area of the organization treasures about its activity. You can do much more with oriented people than any piece of an ERP with teams that aren’t process oriented.”
In this context, the role of the CIO is crucial. According to Cabet, the position of current CIOs goes far beyond technology. “We have to be facilitators of processes from an understanding of the business,” he says. “I have to help the organization improve its performance in all areas, and technology, although fundamental, is the last part of the transformation process. I have to dedicate as much time to understanding the technological evolution and the fit in Persán as to the set of activities that allows me to put myself in the shoes of the different areas of the organization, translating the needs they convey to me into technology and processes, and understanding where we’re going, and how technology will be able to accompany us.”
Industry 5.0
Digitization in manufacturing systems for decades generated the concept of Industry 4.0, which is still valid, and addresses the challenges of manufacturing through connectivity and data analysis to help companies obtain competitive advantages. It is, in short, a manufacturing model where the industry and IT are integrated to create smart factories. However, there’s been an evolution of this concept recently, giving rise to Industry 5.0, whose main novelty is the incorporation of sustainability, resilience, and the human being as central elements, says Cabet.
