How data is driving change and leading to innovation

Dubliner Denis Hannigan joined Accenture two decades ago, having graduated from UCD with a degree in International Commerce and German.

“I was keen to continue learning while building hands-on experience; the opportunity to work across sectors and engage in transformation programmes was very appealing. I knew Accenture put a heavy emphasis on skills development and training, and bring the benefits of a global network - so all in, it was a no brainer,” he explains.

Now, some 20 years later, he’s the father of three children aged seven, six and four, each of whom has already set their cap at a variety of industries. One wants to be an astronaut, another a “farmer vet”, while the youngest wants to drive a bin lorry.

Like any proud parent he’ll support them all the way but a part of him is no doubt already thinking about the ways in which data is driving change in their chosen industry.

“I was always interested in data and digital technologies,” explains Hannigan.

“Identifying new insights, and working with businesses to change and transform to improve performance has always excited me, and I’m lucky enough to be in the right space to do just that,” he says.

Not only does he head up one of the biggest data, advanced analytics and AI teams in the country, but, because it’s Accenture, he can draw on the end-to-end service capabilities offered by the firm – bringing industry and domain expertise, with technology, operations and digital support, to address clients' business challenges in a fully integrated, data-driven approach. “We can bring the deep data and AI know-how in multi-disciplinary, diverse teams to transform and drive innovation for our clients,” he says.

Accenture’s Applied Intelligence team is growing fast. It’s a talented, engaged team of data strategists, scientists and engineers, that participate in a wide variety of activities and events, from Women in Data Science initiatives to hackathons and ‘cloud wars’ competitions.

It runs autism and neurodiversity internship programmes; has forged academic alliances with some of the world’s most prestigious organisations, including the Alan Turing Institute and MIT, and was recently recognised as Analytics Employer of the Year.

Its services are increasingly in demand too.

Accenture research shows that data-driven organisations with an enterprise strategy are growing at an average rate of more than 30 per cent annually. What’s more, by next year 90 per cent of corporate strategies will explicitly mention data as a critical enterprise asset.

“It’s a really exciting time for everyone engaged with data,” says Hannigan.

The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation for many organisations but from a public perspective, the clearest indication of how data can help drive decision-making is seen each night on the 9 o’clock news.

NPHET press conferences provide details about Covid-19 case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths, data which, in turn, inform its advice.

As a result, people are becoming more aware of scenario analysis; and can see clearly the connection between data, insights and action, and understand more than ever the need to move away from decision making based on perception or ‘gut feeling’.

I was always interested in data and digital technologies

According to Hannigan, that holds true for organisations of all kinds.

In the energy sector, for example, data and artificial intelligence technologies are central to enabling and driving the next wave of transformation.

“We’re moving from a situation which was quite stable in terms of traditional power generation, and stable in terms of demand and consumption patterns; to one where supply will be less predictable as a result of solar and wind generation, and in which consumption will also be a lot more variable, as consumer behaviours change with the likes of home working and electronic vehicles,” he points out.

Decisions ranging from what capital investments should be made and in what locations; what assets require prioritised maintenance, and what supply will likely be needed, can all be informed by data and AI.

In life sciences, data, advanced analytics and AI are already helping to deliver manufacturing and supply chain transformations, bringing life-saving drugs to market at pace.

“Through the use of digital twins, which can replicate demand patterns across global supply chain networks, companies can model different capacity and manufacturing scenarios with a view to optimising utilisation and reducing costs,” he explains.

In the financial services sector, for example, when an ATM has run out of cash, a bank can pre-empt a rise in customer call volumes with a simple explanatory text. Using data in this way allows for a better customer experience, and greater efficiencies for the bank.

Organisations of all sorts are recognising the power of data.

"In a survey we ran pre-pandemic, 75 per cent of respondents were using automation and AI. That's now 95 per cent, and we expect to see adoption accelerate in the months and years ahead," says Hannigan.

From an Irish perspective, many organisations are already investing to build data skills, uplift data literacy and enhance data tools and infrastructure – with the aim to improve business performance.

But many leading global organisations are now moving beyond executing ‘data projects’, to putting data at the heart of their business model; and reinventing with data, advanced analytics and AI at the core of their business.

It's about thinking big – exploring the potential - and then starting small, unlocking new value at pace

There are broadly three stages involved in such transformations:

An organisation must first build out what Hannigan terms “brilliant basics”. That means creating the data foundations and then deploying data and AI to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the existing business.

A clear data strategy, that reflects the broader business strategic priorities, and aligns with the technology requirements – such as the transition to cloud - is a key prerequisite.

Then organisations are increasingly leveraging data to build ecosystem partnerships to expand the scope of their services and offerings. He cites McDonald’s relationship with Uber Eats as a good example of broadening the consumer proposition with a data enabled partnership.

Organisations are then identifying and launching brand new business initiatives – aiming to become the Amazon or Netflix of their sector – again with data at the core; with many examples emerging as industry lines blur in areas like financial services, transport and telecommunications.

Accenture's research suggests that leading organisations are increasingly using data analytics and AI to make decisions and define strategies that better anticipate the future.

Hannigan’s team can help by supporting organisations to define an ambitious, data-driven vision, and then drive the transformation – deploy leading practice data, analytics and AI capabilities with end-to-end change, technology and journey management – to help make it a reality.

Data may be everywhere but it doesn’t have to overwhelm, says Hannigan: “It’s about thinking big – exploring the potential - and then starting small, unlocking new value at pace.”

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