Tech Transformation Podcast: Ash Mehra On Busting Silos for the Consumer of Tomorrow
We’re once again on the road, recording from Analytics Units, the three-day summit that gathered today’s leading minds in retail and consumer goods analytics. In our last episode, we talked with John Bertrand, VP and CIO of Kreg Tool Company, about investing in people and technology to prepare for the consumer of tomorrow.
In this episode, we sit down with Ash Mehra, most recently chief digital and information officer of Packable, and also previously CDIO of North America at Mondelez International. We discuss:
- Where the most work is needed to break down internal silos to advance digital transformation
- Where we do see progress being made
- What the consumer goods workplace of the future might look like
- The table stakes when it comes to recruiting and retaining today's top tech/IT talent
- Where companies should invest in their IT infrastructure in order to meet current and future consumer needs
- Why Ash gives new meaning to the term “streak”
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Excerpts
“In terms of the progress, there is a lot more leadership awareness and leadership acceptance and understanding that digital and data is essential, personally, for them, for the company, for the success of the company. I think that's where it feels very different from, say, five years ago, or 10 years ago, where companies are really trying to make it to bridge that digital divide. …
“There's a lot more blocking and tackling that is needed to really solve the silo issue. I think it starts with establishing transparency around goals. If there's great understanding of what's really critical for the company to achieve, how you prioritize and sequence those goals, and really enrolling people on those goals. I think that's really critical. There’s more progress to be done there — and I think it's easier than it sounds.
“And the other part is clarifying roles and responsibilities. Otherwise, there's a lot of internal lobbying that continues, right? So how can you create a safe structure for multiple teams to collaborate. So with the clarity of what every team brings to the party, but also where the company is headed, and what is the most critical in terms of metrics. So if you can do that, and really get the entire data and digital ecosystem to be working in sync, there'd be much, much more progress and much quicker progress.”
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