we are here at AWS re:Invent and one focal point
is the overlay between enterprise resource planning and generative AI.
We have an expert guest with us, Kirk Francis.
He is Managing Director
at BCG Platinion, and also Global Leader Enterprise Solutions.
Kirk, it's great to see you. It's good to see you Deirdre.
First and foremost, what is enterprise resource planning?
So if I was explaining it to my grandmother, I would say
ERP is a package software solution that enables
back office functions for large global enterprises, things like finance, H.R.
Supply chain.
How is Gen AI influencing ERP vendors right now?
So what's interesting is that ERP vendors are very much in catch up mode.
GenAI is an incredible wave of momentum taking over all kinds
of different industries.
And the ERP vendors are very much trying to get on this train and catch up.
They are putting a lot of effort into embedding GenAI
into very specific business functions, typical, manual, processes that exist,
they are looking to automate with GenAI, but it is very much
a path towards momentum that is not there yet.
Okay. So a path that's not quite there yet.
So this underlines one of the challenges that business leaders have, which is how
to navigate in this increasingly complex and fast moving space.
That's a great question.
So traditionally, ERP was very much focused on best of suite,
meaning everything went into the ERP package these days.
The trend is very much best of breed,
meaning there's an ecosystem of products around the ERP platform.
GenAI provides plenty of opportunities
for these digital upstarts to be able to jump into some of those gaps.
And while the ERP vendors are catching up, they are now introducing highly valuable
solutions that integrate very quickly and easily with these ERP platforms.
What's realistic, Kirk, for business leaders
to expect from the GenAI overlay?
So what leaders should expect is
what I would suggest to leaders is that they don't really lean in on
proof of concept proof of technology for the sake of testing it out.
I think they should really take a value based lens to thinking carefully about
what do they want to do and what do they plan to get out of it.
Because right now there's plenty of different opportunities,
but they really need to have that target state in mind.
Kirk, before I let you go, number one surprise this year,
what is it?
The number one
surprise for me this year is, frankly the pace at which
some of the ERP vendors are jumping on this GenAI bandwagon
and the surprise is that it is not as fast as I would have expected
when the ERP vendors really lean in in a meaningful way.
It's incredible the pace at which they can get to
and really start to drive change in their products.
But right now what I'm seeing is it's taking a little longer than typical.
So it's a path that will continue to increase in speed, but it's not there yet.
A little hesitant for the moment.
Kirk Francis, thank you very much. Thank you.