(US & Canada) VIDEO | Also Learn the Political Aspects of Leading Transformations — Rockwell Automation VP for Enterprise Transformation and Architecture

Talal Butt, VP of Enterprise Transformation and Architecture at Rockwell Automation, speaks with Stephen Gatchell, Director of Data Advisory at BigID, in a video interview about change management, its three main pillars, and the evolving role of technology leaders with regard to change management and new technologies.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. is a U.S.-based provider of industrial automation and digital transformation technologies. BigID is a leader in data security, privacy, compliance, and governance.

Butt begins the interview by stating that change, adoption, and communication are the three main pillars of change management. He adds that if these three pillars are not built right, even the right technology or strategy will not work.

According to Butt, the all-encompassing efforts towards change management are about building the right things and getting the right feedback from customers. Further, organizations must focus on iteratively delivering things and ensure that all the stakeholders are in sync with the delivery process.

In addition, it is also about building solid partnerships with business sponsors, customers, and the internal execution team to ensure proper usage and adoption, says Butt. The third piece is communicating on different levels to establish how organizational change management is changing the lives of customers and partners.

Speaking on the challenges of digital transformation, Butt states that the organization must assess that the engine is collectively working well. Further, he mentions the need for constant leadership support and consistent progress towards the goal that builds trust and confidence within teams and on the senior level.

Moving forward, Butt states that it is a great time to be a technology leader as every organization and industry is going through massive transformations and technology is a major component.

However, Butt maintains that although technology leaders have a seat on the table, they are yet to adapt to change management. He maintains that tech leaders are good at technology jobs, but leadership changes their roles considerably.

Through change management, tech leaders have an opportunity to think about business and organization at large, therefore, evolving their roles for the better, says Butt. He notes that some leaders need to learn to navigate the political aspects of leading big transformations.

Furthermore, Butt states that technology, in a lot of ways, has become commoditized now. Even before the advent of ChatGPT, with low-code/no-code software platforms, a lot of business stakeholders could be more productive by using them on their own.

Thereafter, he asserts that with the advent of these new technologies, one of the roles of the tech leaders is to provide the guardrails and framework, and then let the organization be creative. Butt maintains that this would help the organization understand technology better and make it seamless for customers.

In conclusion, Butt shares that traditional technology organizations would typically want to have complete control over projects, but the approach is shifting. To succeed, one must embrace this shift and provide policies and guidelines for the rest of the organization to work with. He says that this fosters massive innovation that an organization could not do on its own.

CDO Magazine appreciates Talal Butt for sharing his insights with our digital community.