两年疫情导致的不确定性和不断升级的商业风险，让企业董事会更加关注一种曾经被视为又一个IT热词的技术趋势。
Paul Martin于2020年10月结束了他十年的百特国际(Baxter International)首席信息官生涯，目前在四家上市公司董事会任职：Unisys、Ping Identity、Owens Corning和Steris。他说:“新冠肺炎疫情大大加快了数字化转型工作。”他补充说，“如今，首席信息官不会退休，我们在董事会里工作!”
据全美企业董事协会(National Association of Corporate directors, NACD)的数据，如今这种情况越来越明显，在标普500指数成分股公司中，43%的董事会成员在公开披露中报告了技术背景。根据Deloitte的数据，在过去两年里，数字转型的投资“增长了10%以上”。Deloitte最近的一份报告分析了前100家公司(按市值计算)的董事会，发现拥有“精通技术”董事会的31家公司总体财务表现更好。
几年前，数字化转型被孤立地谈论，对IT人员来说更像是一个流行语。这一切都变了，”Martin说，他最近被《萨沃伊杂志》评为2021年最具影响力的黑人企业董事之一。他亲眼目睹了自己在IT、数字业务和网络安全方面的专业知识给董事会带来的价值。
在他的两个董事会中，他是唯一一位有技术背景的董事。“我把技术和网络专业知识带到这些董事会，还有数字部分，”Martin补充道，他自2017年以来一直是首席信息官名人堂的成员。“这实际上让我更努力地工作。我的董事会成员们指望我确保我们在数字战略中做正确的事情。”
一、无论在哪个行业，数字化转型工作现在都是高管和董事会成员的战略重点，其他董事在对待这件事情上有什么变化吗?
我们都看到组织转向远程工作，并将数字化技术支持引入到他们的员工队伍中。这让企业有机会重新思考如何与客户互动，如何与供应链建立联系，以及如何提高内部运营效率。在今天所有的注意力都集中在这一转型工作上的情况下，董事会必须确保没有任何组织在利用数据科学、人工智能、机器学习、区块链等技术所获得的商业利益方面落后。
我今天看到的伟大之处在于，数字化转型在很大程度上嵌入到了商业战略的结构中。它是你听到的所有事情的一部分，使用数据、自动化和机器人，帮助推动运营战略和提高效率或减少浪费的新方法。
二、作为董事会成员，你如何对影响你所覆盖的其他行业的最关键问题保持充分了解?
了解数字化转型的机会、可行性和可行性与董事会的其他职责同样重要。我这样做的一种方法是跟踪行业分析师。我会阅读他们的研究记录，如果可以的话，我会旁听竞争对手的收益电话会议。掌握事态发展的最前沿，了解竞争对手在做什么，这真的很关键。例如，我在屋顶行业关注的一个趋势是，围绕无人机使用的惊人数字思考，以及无人机在不危及任何人爬上屋顶的情况下进行屋顶估算的方式。
在当今互联的世界中，企业如何以不同的方式利用数字化转型，这真的很有趣。对于董事会来说，邀请演讲嘉宾和外部专家也很重要。
三、作为董事会中经验丰富的技术领导者，在评估数字转型战略时，您会提出哪些问题?
我寻找公司将这项工作纳入其战略的关键方式。作为董事会成员，你的职责是从受托人的角度来考虑。公司是否为利益相关者做了最好的事情?我经常问的问题包括:
1、我们是否利用这些数字技术来连接客户、供应链和员工?
2、我们是否正在为客户创造一种增强的或成功的体验?驱动新的客户体验?
3、我们是否在为员工寻找新的工作方式?
4、我们是否更有效地连接了供应链?
5、我们是在利用科技去做以前做不到的事吗?
四、在这些技术转型中，董事会还需要深入研究哪些关键领域?
任何数字化转型的核心都是数据。我们做这项工作是因为这些数据的好处:能够应用人工智能或机器学习，以推动更大的商业洞察。这是非常关键的，利用这项工作来改善决策，提高数据的可见性。
另一个需要关注的领域是如何在数字服务中利用机器人技术，推动整个运营的自动化。你在提高工厂的效率吗?与您的员工通过RPA(机器人过程自动化)?当然，围绕所有这些工作的网络安全方面总是至关重要的。
五、您于2017年加入了第一个公开董事会，同时仍在百特国际担任全职首席信息官，这个机会是怎么来的?
2011年，我加入百特担任首席信息官，2016年，我有机会加入我的第一个上市公司董事会。一位高管招聘人员把我推荐给了Unisys董事会，在百特首席执行官、首席财务官和法务主管的批准下，我得以加入。他们说这对我的高管发展有好处，而且我会把商业洞察力带回百特，我做到了。我想告诉其他想进入董事会的首席信息官，如果有机会，现在就开始在他们目前的职位上寻找。
原文：
Two years of pandemic uncertainty and escalating business risk have sharpened the focus of corporate boards on a technology trend once dismissed as just another IT buzzword.
“Digital transformation work has been greatly accelerated by the pandemic,” says Paul Martin, who wrapped up a decade as CIO of Baxter International in October 2020 and now serves on four public company boards: Unisys, Ping Identity, Owens Corning, and Steris. These days, he adds, “CIOs don’t retire. We go to work on boards!”
That’s increasingly true today, with 43% of board directors at S&P 500 companies reporting technology backgrounds in their public disclosure, according to the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). And investment in digital transformation “has increased by more than 10%” during the past two years, according to Deloitte. One recent Deloitte report analyzed the boards of the top 100 companies (by market cap) and found the 31 companies with “tech-savvy” boards performed better overall financially.
“A few years ago, digital transformation was talked about in isolation—more of a buzzword for IT people. That’s all changed,” says Martin, who was recently honored as one of the Savoy Magazine’s 2021 Most Influential Black Corporate Directors. He sees firsthand the value that his expertise in IT, digital business, and cybersecurity brings to the board.
On two of his boards, he is the only director with a technology background. “I bring the tech and cyber expertise to those boards, and also the digital piece,” adds Martin, a member of the CIO Hall of Fame since 2017. “It actually makes me work harder. My fellow board members look to me to make sure we’re doing the right things in our digital strategy.”
I caught up with Martin recently to get an insider’s view from the other side of the boardroom table.
Maryfran Johnson: No matter the industry, digital transformation work is such a strategic focus for the C-suite and board members now. What changes have you noticed in the way your fellow directors view these efforts?
Paul Martin: We’ve all seen organizations pivoting to work remotely and introducing digital enablement into their workforce. It’s giving companies an opportunity to rethink how they interact with customers, connect with supply chains, and drive internal operational efficiencies. With all the focus today on this transformation work, boards must ensure that no organization falls behind on the business benefits to be gained by leveraging technologies in data science, AI, machine learning, blockchain, etc.
What’s great in what I see today is how much digital transformation is embedded into the fabric of the business strategy. It’s part of everything you hear about—the use of data, automation and robotics—helping to drive the operational strategy and new ways to improve efficiencies or reduce waste.
How do you stay well informed about the most critical issues affecting the other industries you cover now as a board member?
Staying current on the digital transformation opportunities, viability, and feasibility are equally as important as other board responsibilities today.One way I do that is to follow the industry analysts. I’ll read their research notes, and I’ll listen in on competitor earnings calls when I can. It’s really key to stay on top of what’s happening and understand what competitors are doing. One trend I’m following in the roofing industry, for example, is the amazing digital thinking around drone use and the way they’re used to do roofing estimates without endangering anyone climbing up there.
It’s really fascinating to see how companies can leverage digital transformation in different ways in today’s connected world. It’s also important for boards to engage guest speakers and outside experts.
As an experienced tech leader on the board, what questions do you bring to the table in assessing a digital transformation strategy?
I look for key ways the company is fitting this work into its strategy. As a board member, your duty is to consider it from a fiduciary standpoint. Is the company doing the best thing for its stakeholders? Some of the questions I often ask include:
- Are we leveraging these digital technologies to connect customers, supply chains, and employees?
- Are we creating an enhanced or winning experience for customers? Driving a new customer experience?
- Are we finding new ways of working for our employees?
- Are we connecting our supply chains more efficiently?
- Are we leveraging the tech to do what we couldn’t before?
What other areas in these tech transformations are critical for boards to delve into?
The heart of any digital transformation is the data. We do this work because of those data benefits: the ability to apply AI or machine learning in ways that drive greater business insights. That’s very key, using this work to improve decision-making with better data visibility.
Another area to look at is how you’re leveraging robotics in digital services, to drive automation across your operations. Are you driving efficiencies on the factory floor? With your employees through RPA (robotic process automation)? And, of course, the cybersecurity aspects around all this work are always critical.
You joined your first public board in 2017, while still working fulltime as CIO at Baxter International. How did that opportunity come about?
I joined Baxter as CIO in 2011, and in 2016 I was presented with the opportunity to join my first public company board. An executive recruiter recommended me to the Unisys board, and with the approval of Baxter’s CEO, CFO, and head of legal, I was able to join. They said it would be good for my executive development and that I’d bring business insights back to Baxter, which I did. I would tell other CIOs who want to serve on boards to start looking now, in their current roles, if they have the opportunity.
本文由数字化转型网翻译而成，作者：Maryfran Johnson；翻译：数字化转型网郑亚茹；审核翻译：数字化转型网默然。
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