Business areas: Experts in their own processes
Business areas have a fundamental value in the implementation of AI, as they have a deep knowledge of their processes. No one is better placed to identify improvement points and efficiency opportunities. This knowledge allows them to clearly define the expected results and communicate them effectively in their own language.
Technical areas: Creating complex and powerful solutions
The technical areas of a company are essential to develop and maintain the technology solutions that support day-to-day operations. Technical teams are highly skilled and capable of creating complex and powerful systems, such as rockets and technological Ferraris.
The importance of glue: bringing two worlds together
This is where the glue comes in, a critical interface that connects the worlds of business and technology. This essential figure must be able to speak both languages, understanding both the technical complexities and the needs of the business. The glue sits down with business teams to map their processes, identify areas for improvement and understand their real needs. It then translates these needs into technical language, ensuring that development teams build solutions that truly solve the identified problems and align with business objectives. Without this bridge, business and technical areas can operate in silos, missing the opportunity to collaborate effectively and maximise the value of technology.
It also identifies business areas that need to carry heavy loads in a short time. When sitting down with the technical area and explaining the need for a means of transport, the technical areas describe “the wheel”. The glue then says: “Give me four wheels, put a box on top and we have the transport the business needs”. This not only makes sense of the technical solution, but also explains to the business areas how the wheel solves their problems in their own language.
Any AI solution needs to have a clear output, and this is achieved by understanding the business areas’ processes very well, identifying their pain points and areas of efficiency. Then, the starting point is validated, which in the AI world is the input data: understanding how they have it, where, how this data is managed and who has access to it. Having the input data clear and what they want to achieve with it, the glue sits with the AI expert technical areas, poses the output and input, and the AI technicians will work their magic, being clear on the objective.
Internal and external glue
This concept of glue is not only limited to the internal areas of a company, but is also crucial in the relationship with customers. Understanding and translating customer needs into technology solutions is fundamental to providing quality service and remaining competitive in the market. Internally, the glue ensures that all business areas have clear use cases and are aligned with AI expert areas to improve their internal processes, working towards the same goals.
This capability, combined with the “glue” that translates these needs to the technical areas, enables companies to offer the best AI solutions tailored to the specific needs of their customers. This synergy ensures that each solution is accurate, effective and truly useful, reflecting a holistic understanding of both the business and the technology.
Conclusion: The value of glue
In short, glue is essential to connect the technical and business areas, ensuring that they work together towards a common goal. At Telefónica, we have the advantage of having this glue in place internally, allowing us to use AI effectively to improve our processes and outcomes. By understanding and communicating the needs of both areas, we can develop solutions that really add value and help us move forward.
It is this ability to bring together knowledge and shared goals that will allow us to remain leaders in an increasingly competitive technology environment. With this glue in place and in-house, we can not only thrive and lead innovation in the marketplace, but live to be 100 years older!
