A 3×1 Interview: (three RPA questions, one RPA expert) Frank Casale, President of arago US
Advisors: Time for a Fast Pivot
As labor arbitrage gets replaced by Intelligent Automation, an entirely new playbook and price book is emerging.
Raheem Hasan: When we see or hear about the impact of disruptive technology discussed it’s typically in context of the enterprise. You’ve been vocal about its impact on the advisors. Why is this such a hot topic in your viewpoint?
Frank Casale: Let’s take the outsourcing advisory community. For the last two decades the main driver has been cost reduction – the business model has been labor arbitrage. The role of the advisor was to leverage expertise around destination selection, outsourcing vendor selection and negotiations to help their client get from RFP to decision. As we shift beyond labor arbitrage and over to digital labor, courtesy of the advancements being made in robotic process automation, AI and cognitive computing, the buyer/advisor dynamic is changing.
RH: How so?
FC: In many cases we are seeing that the primary driver is the same – cost save. And the ultimate goal is the same – get me to a decision point. However, the expertise required, as well as the market and vendor intelligence needed will be totally different. Offshore and near shore discussions will be irrelevant. The FTE acronym will become passé. We are talking software here. Many will be buying what I call service as software but it’s still software. In addition, many advisors will morph beyond the traditional tech agnostic advisor role and become valued added resellers for best in class RPA software providers. Big money will be made here, but, it will also shake up the ecosystem quite a bit.
RH: So what is your advice to the advisors?
FC: It’s all about the pivot. A fast pivot. My advice to advisors is —realize that what you know now is becoming less valuable and less relevant each day. By the end of this year it will be totally clear that next-gen deals will only be seeking next-gen advisors. Those advisors and advisory firms that are quickest to reboot and retool will grow. All others will struggle in this fast changing and unforgiving space.