Written by James Bishop
23 Sep
Rami has contributed to the Private Equity International Spotlight Podcast alongside Lisa Weaver-Lambert, Joseph Pacini, Narry Singh, and Simon Freakley.
He stressed the importance of maintaining a focus on the business outcome when integrating new tech into a business – something he says is sometimes overlooked by those implementing the digital transformation, who may have predetermined views about the technology.
He also spoke of the centrality of the consumer experience when considering new technologies.
Rami Cassis, founder of Parabellum Investments: “I fear that today, in some instances, the dice is loaded in favour of the tech because some of the individuals implementing the digital transformation have a predetermined view about the tech… People are thinking about the kind of tech they want to use as opposed to the business problem they want to solve.”
See the full transcription of his contribution below.
Lisa Weaver-Lambert – PE, Data, and AI Lead, Microsoft: “The emphasis not just on the leadership within the firm but also having an ecosystem of specialist partners, implementers, and advisors around the company that can accelerate the transformation of this company, I think that’s a very important consideration.”
Joseph Pacini – Founder and Co-managing Partner, SGT Capital: “We have found that bringing in someone as a chief digital officer that does have that specific project management background, that is forward-looking on what does the business need to move to the future, and specifically, how does that create value for the overall business tends to be a good pairing.”
Narry Singh – Global Lead Digital and Commercial, AlixPartners: “I think there’s actually a pretty real challenge where some of the metrics of digital progress aren’t purely financial at the beginning, and most CFOs struggle to get their arms around them.”
Simon Freakley – CEO, AlixPartners: “Making sure that a company has the digital metabolism to be able to really understand how to aggregate not just the data but the insight that comes from that data is critically important.”
Rami Cassis, full transcription:
“I fear that today, in some instances, the dice is loaded in favour of the tech because some of the individuals implementing the digital transformation have a predetermined view about the tech. And I think that sometimes puts the cart before the horse. People are thinking about the kind of tech they want to use as opposed to the business problem they want to solve.”
So when I engage with businesses, I’m not particularly tech literate, so it’s quite easy to lose me. But that forces the colleagues that I work with to speak to me in simpler language, that brings it back to a business language and to a business outcome.”
I want to know what life feels like as a consumer and an end user, and that experience is of fundamental importance.”
