Part three of the Transformation Talks 2023 focused on the dimension of technology as a driving force for the future. How do we manage the future purposefully and what contribution do WARGITSCH, Lilium and UiPath make? Read a summary of the perspective of systems theory, futuristic mobility and automation solutions.
In the third and last Transformation Talk of 2023, things got technical. We dealt with the question of how technological progress affects established markets and organizations. Of particular importance to us: How can technology-driven transformation be managed methodically and purposefully?
Under the moderation of Dr. Christina Weigert (VP Corporate Development), a panel of top-class experts provided exciting insights and practical recommendations for action:
Christoph Wargitsch – System theorist, CEO (WARGITSCH Transformation Engineers)
Peter Seidel – CIO (Lilium)
Sebastian Seutter – Global Manufacturing Lead (UiPath)
CEO Christoph Wargitsch opened the event with a short keynote speech, in which he took a look at both the past and the future: He began with a photograph of a historical work of art: The wooden automaton figure “Preaching Monk” (1560) controls a multitude of periodically running individual movements, which makes it clear that mankind has had a soft spot for (human-like) technology for many centuries. After this glimpse into the past, the speaker immediately allows us to look into the future: the British science fiction film “Ex Machina” (2015) tells a dystopian story of the development of an artificial intelligence in which the boundaries between man and machine become blurred. The plot of the film is certainly still dreams of the future, but technological progress has long since found its way into our daily lives. “Technology is becoming a catalyst for transformation,” the systems theorist observes. Technical infrastructure, equipment, data landscape, IT security, app landscape and user experience – the CEO emphasizes how important it is to always keep people in mind and include them in the process. This is increasingly possible with new technologies such as virtual reality.
In the second keynote presentation, Peter Seidel, CIO of the aviation company Lilium, enables us to gain insight into the disruptive forces of technology in established markets. With the mission “Building radically better ways of moving”, the company develops and produces electrically powered, vertical take-off and landing aircraft. According to Seidel, current traffic and environmental problems can be solved by moving mobility into the air. Currently, he said, the company has already pre-sold 800 airplanes and continues to work on unique technological features to compete against the approximately 200 competitors in the long term. Finally, the CIO showed a film of a Lilium test flight, during which a speed of 250 km/h was achieved for the first time.
After a strong response from the audience to Seidel’s presentation, moderator Christina Weigert referred to the book “The Innovators Dilemma” by economist Clayton M. Christensen shortly before the break and asked whether established companies can also succeed in developing groundbreaking innovations. Wargitsch refers to the possibility of creating labs and innovation hubs, but advises against integrating them back into the company. The better way, he believes, is to let the labs grow while the established structures shrink back to health. Another option is to remain flexible and innovative even as an established company. This requires a mode of continuous self-renewal.
After a short break, Sebastian Seutter, Global Manufacturing Lead at UiPath, explores in his keynote how technology triggers and drives transformation within organizations and how it can transform them fundamentally. UiPath is a software company that emulates human action via the automation of work steps. Seutter begins his presentation with a quote from computer scientist Mark Weiser, as a claim of the automation solutions developed by UiPath: “The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”
Based on a study by the World Economic Forum, Seutter shows three megatrends for manufacturing companies and the appropriate automation solutions:
Unlocking Data to Unleash Innovation
Performant automation of the purchasing process through daily data availability across all systems.
Mitigating Workforce Disruption
Supporting Inclusive Technology Adoption
Following his keynote, Seutter and Wargitsch discuss how technologically driven changes can be managed methodically and purposefully using the case study “Creation of a Sustainability Report”. Seutter describes how automation solutions such as those from UiPath can relieve companies and employees of the burden of creating such a sustainability report. Seutter and Wargitsch then analyze the project, the pitfalls and the results of such a transformation through the process steps Think, Plan, Design, Do of the WARGITSCH Transformation Framework.
At the end of the Transformation Talk, Christina Weigert introduces a Q&A session in which the speakers answer numerous questions from the audience on site and from the live stream. Intersections with the dimensions of people and organization, which were dealt with in the two previous talks, are repeatedly found.
Looking for more?
The agenda in 2024 will once again include exciting topics – the Transformation Talks will be continued in a new style.
For more information, visit www.wargitsch.com/start/learn/forum/transformation-talks.