Dmitry Shushkin: "We need to invest in technology now. But clearly count the effect»
We present to your attention the full version of the interview with the CEO of ABBYY Russia, in which the specialist shared his vision of why digital transformation does not lead to a reduction in employees.
– Have your customers ' requests changed due to the coronavirus pandemic?
- Requests for individual solutions have decreased by about 20%, but the demand for remote work solutions has increased significantly – for example, mobile technologies, various web interfaces, document processing and scanning, remote access to corporate search systems.
We are in a new world. It is obvious that in the XXI century. this is the first epidemic of this scale, but not the last. In this situation, I think, the issues of establishing remote work and monitoring the effectiveness of employees will come to the fore. In such conditions, the demand for our technologies, which allow customers to understand how business processes are going in their companies, what their real course is, will only grow.
– Which one of them will win?"
- Those who have approached [the current situation] more ready in terms of digital transparency will win. Figuratively speaking, when you are walking at random in the dark and trying to grope for a door, a staircase, the chance to stumble is much higher than when you have a map of the area and night vision glasses.
It's the same in business: if you have an idea of what is happening at a particular point, what kind of feedback from customers, then you will make much more balanced and prompt decisions with fewer mistakes than a company that cannot do this due to the lack of such tools.
We need to invest in technology and automation right now. But clearly count the effect. Those who decide not to use the technology will think that they are now in the best position because they have spent less, but in the end it will be different. On average, the demand will probably give less than 30% growth, but I am not ready to give exact figures. The situation will be affected by the duration of the quarantine, the number of frozen economies and industries, and the ability of humanity to find a way to survive in these conditions.
– Can you formulate step-by-step how to start large-scale digitalization projects correctly, so as not to be disappointed in the results?
– It very much depends on what the company does, in what industry it works. In any case, first of all, you need to look at what business processes look like, and try to maximize the ability to get digital traces from them. This is necessary in order to understand in which places everything is already more or less good, and where the processes are slowed down. Based on this, you need to build your plans and strategy.
– How to properly allocate the budget?
– When you see that the implementation of a particular system, according to the forecast, leads to certain effects, you will be able to calculate everything correctly. For example, implementing a software robot to solve a routine task allows you to free up three people. This means that you can shift these people to another, more complex task that you can't automate right now.
– What if the person whose tasks are taken over by the robot is fired? Behind the digital transformation, after all, there are risks of reducing people.
- They are, of course. But professions, specialties are modified: some die off, others appear. I would not be afraid of layoffs, but of the lack of retraining programs.
- Is digital transformation always about the fact that fewer people will be needed?
– No, more people will be needed. How many visits could you make on a horse a day 100 years ago – and how many can you make online now? It is obvious that the number of iterations of certain business processes, their acceleration, increases the demand for resources. Therefore, I do not believe in reducing the demand for human resources in the process of digital transformation.
– Is it possible to create a company that will consist entirely of robots and its CEO will also be a robot?
– I can imagine entrepreneurs who work only with robots. But the robot can not replace the entrepreneur himself, because this is a person who has a whole set of qualities: determination, flexibility, hope for a bright future. The robot does not have such qualities, and it is unlikely that they will ever appear.
– Do you think the IT industry needs state support now?
– I think that it is now more important than ever, for the reason that the revenue of companies is declining. Companies will not be able to give up at least 80% of costs if they do not lay off people. The team is the most valuable thing that companies have. This asset turns out to be the most expensive, and it plays a predominant role in expenses.
The state can help the industry with interest-free loans, tax holidays, and the abolition of social taxes. Social taxes have already been reduced for the industry, but we have already seen many attempts by the state to return them to their normal state.
It is also very important to maintain the demand for information technologies and products of IT companies, including from the state. After all, you also need to earn money. Maintaining demand and government programs will help the industry survive and become even more competitive in the global market.
