by Janus Boye
“When you are on the customer side, you need to really own the problem and the actual solution“
Gurdeep Singh is Product Manager, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics at insurance firm Tryg in Copenhagen
This quote stuck out to me in a recent conversation with Gurdeep Singh from Copenhagen-based insurance firm Tryg.
Gurdeep has previously worked for over a decade as a consultant in various roles at Accenture and Genpact and sees himself as an enabler between business and IT.
In late 2017, he joined Tryg, where he is now Product Manager, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. He leads the Robotics Center of Excellence and spends much time working with his Indian-based team. Gurdeep is our expert of the month.
A recent mindset shift when it comes to automation
As with many conversations these days, we opened by talking about the impact of COVID and how Gurdeep has been adapting.
As Gurdeep said, there’s been a mindset shift:
These past months, people have been more open to automation, smarter ways of working, and reducing geographical dependencies on work. The isolation, removal of travel, and working from home have led to an increased focus on the job at hand. With fewer distractions, there’s more time to go deeper on the tasks at hand
According to Gurdeep, now is the time to be more transparent about ways of working, to break down the silos, and really learn from each other. As is the case for automation as well as for many other areas, reuse tends to both bring down costs and improve quality.
What’s ahead when it comes to automation?
To Gurdeep, it’s all about maturing & scaling robotics. This also means a shift from manual process assessment and diagnostics to a more scientific way of finding process insights.
In explaining further, he turned to his background, where he has transitioned from process excellence and statistical problem solving (like his black belt in Six Sigma) to a more technical way of problem-solving bringing insights and technology together.
Gurdeep sees a clear movement from what people feel, to what actually is, to what actually can be done. To quote:
When you know the process insights, it helps you identify opportunities and the business value
In a recent peer group meeting, Gurdeep also talked about bridging the gap between RPA and data science teams to enable you to instantly apply cognitive AI to the current and potential automation scope.
Being a part of the solution
So, what does it actually mean to really own the problem and the actual solution? The opening quote resonated with me, because the field that Gurdeep is working in has the fascination combination of both tremendous potential and emerging tech.
We’ve heard from community members since our founding days, that while consultants can bring valuable insights, it’s something else to see the projects from start to end. Many of the initiatives that Gurdeep is working on doesn’t really have an end, but more so milestones, where automation can be refined and improved.
It’s still quite rare to find somebody like Gurdeep, who is both technically well-versed and can also act as an internal consultant for business process optimisation.
To really own the solution for the longer term, Gurdeep also has his own team and spends much of his time managing the RPA, ML and AI solution providers that Tryg has engaged.
Learn more about Gurdeep
You can meet Gurdeep in our automation & robotics community and also connect with Gurdeep on LinkedIn.