Deloitte published its annual Tech Trends report earlier this year, and as you might have expected, it focuses heavily on how artificial intelligence seems to be affecting nearly every sector. In fact, they position AI as potentially being as “foundational as electricity to daily business and personal lives.”
While the vast majority of service organizations are still working to determine exactly how the full potential of AI fits their businesses, it’s already having an effect on the need for additional computing power; how organizations manage their data (which will be used to fuel AI solutions); and how the technology could potentially help address the shortage of tech talent that has been plaguing several markets (including field service).
It’s certainly worth having a read through what Deloitte had to say about AI in the Tech Trends report, but what sparked my interest that I want to discuss here is the final section of this year’s report, which focuses on "intentional intersections.” This is really about convergence – where new technologies and existing applications/use cases cross paths and affect each other in interesting ways.
According to Deloitte, convergence can illuminate two key perspectives: Insight into adjacent industries whose current research and development efforts could point to an organization’s future; and clarity on how different technologies can be combined in a way where the sum is greater than the component parts.
In the case of the former, Deloitte quotes author William Gibson: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.” In other words, the next big innovation in field service might already exist in an adjacent industry/geography/competitor. The report uses examples like the space and biopharma sectors working together, Uber delivering food, or Amazon establishing a successful pharmaceutical business.
Over the last handful of years in field service, I’ve heard many times at conferences and in conversation the need to think about the “Uberization” of the industry or to pay attention to what’s making companies like Amazon so successful. But exactly how much have companies taken the understanding of the need for outside-their-industry influence and turned it into action?
The Value of Looking Outside Your Own Industry
Deloitte’s point about looking outside the boundary of your own industry emphasizes the opportunity that exists for more field service organizations to exercise this much talked-about concept and to reap the benefits of the innovation that cold come from doing so. There’s significant potential for field service organizations to take inspiration from how companies in other industries are getting creative about how to meet customer demands (and create new demand) as well as how they are using technology to solve business challenges – which brings us to the second major point of Deloitte’s report.
This point is examining where technologies intersect in interesting ways. Deloitte points out that while new technologies are often deployed to solve specific problems, they can provide even greater benefits when they are combined with other technologies or directed at new applications. A good historical example in field service was the advent of mobile computers – companies were rapidly able to combine work order management, dispatch, location tracking, fleet management, and other activities on a single platform, while eventually enabling things like digital repair manuals or remote diagnostics.
Within the silos that commonly exist within organizations, it can be tremendously valuable to take a broader look at what technologies are in place across those different silos – service, sales, manufacturing, marketing – to determine if there are areas where existing (or commonly agreed upon) technologies have a farther-reaching impact and therefore greater ROI. Depending on the sophistication and degree of silos in your organization, you may start by asking questions such as: The service team likely has data that the sales team and design/manufacturing groups would find valuable – do/can they share it? Are processes automated in one group but not in another? Are there redundant platforms in place?
As Deloitte puts it: “For leaders, this serves as a nudge to see odd-combination dual degrees, bridges between disparate teams, and interest in adjacent industries as necessary features, not bugs. If organizations can see beyond the silos of specialization and embrace these intentional intersections, we might very well find ourselves on the cusp of a reimagined renaissance. What convergence will your organization discover next?”
You can read more about Deloitte’s thoughts on convergence here, and download the entire report here. If you’ve spotted areas where field service could benefit from lessons learned in other industries, or found ways to leverage technology in new ways, I would love to hear your thoughts.