简化AI集成，实现规模化部署
内容总结：
Jabil以简驭繁：打造可扩展AI基石的整合之道
作为一家业务遍布30多个国家、拥有超过100个制造基地的全球性企业，Jabil面临着典型的“增长烦恼”：各工厂各自为政的工具、过时的系统、依赖电子表格的手工流程，导致数据孤岛丛生，难以提前预警问题，也无法快速协调应对。对此，Jabil的答案是确立“先简化、再创新”的战略。公司SAP IT总监Harish Manohar强调，在不降低复杂度的前提下盲目叠加新技术只会徒增风险，任何创新若不以简化为前提，终将使系统更趋繁复。
Jabil将整合视为现代化的首要任务。其核心理念在于：当代企业的“脊梁”是数据，而唯有当数据在各系统间无缝流动，企业才能谈得上优化、自动化乃至应用AI。为此，公司以SAP集成套件为技术底座，坚定推行API驱动、事件驱动的集成架构，摒弃“点对点”的零散工具，并力主系统“清洁核心”，严控重度定制，以期在全球范围内建立起统一、可信的数据骨干。
这一转型带来的业务价值是切实可感的。集成后的统一工作流，让物料短缺等供应链问题得以提早发现，大幅提升了响应速度；实时分析能力则支持企业即时调整供应策略，有效降低了运营风险。更重要的是，员工得以从繁琐的多系统切换与数据核对中解放出来，将精力从“追着数据跑”转向“依据洞见果断行动”，决策效率与质量均获得显著提升。
放眼未来，这一坚实的整合基础正在为AI的大规模落地铺平道路。Jabil正积极探討预测性供应链洞察、智能异常处理以及AI驱动的计划与预测。Manohar认为，AI若要真正发挥价值，必须依托可信的数据与跨系统的执行能力，而这恰是坚实整合所能提供的。其留给企业领导者的启示十分明确：“规模化下的简洁本身就是强大的竞争优势”，任何技术投资都必须最终回归到可衡量的业务价值与运营韧性上。
（本文基于MIT Technology Review与SAP合作播客节目内容总结）
中文翻译：
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以规模化简化助力AI集成
简化并整合企业技术可以帮助公司更快行动、应对干扰，并为AI奠定更坚实的基础——捷普公司SAP IT总监哈里什·马诺哈尔如是说。
与SAP联合呈现
随着企业规模扩大，支撑运营的技术既可能成为资产，也可能迅速变成负担。相互割裂的系统、针对个别工厂的工具、电子表格和人工变通做法，会形成数据孤岛，使企业更难及早发现问题、协调应对措施并充满信心地做出决策。对于捷普——这家在全球30多个国家拥有100多个工厂的制造企业来说，答案是优先推进集成与简化。
捷普公司SAP IT总监哈里什·马诺哈尔表示，公司秉持“先简化、后创新”的理念，认识到在不先降低复杂性的情况下引入新技术只会带来更多风险。目标是标准化流程、尽可能整合资源，并在整个组织内建立更加一致的数据主干。“任何没有经过简化的创新都会增加更多复杂性，”马诺哈尔说。
这一理念也改变了捷普推进现代化的方式。“任何现代化或转型都应带来可衡量的商业价值，”马诺哈尔说。公司专注于在其供应链中实现端到端的流程贯通，并打造一个能够在各区域间一致扩展的基础。集成之所以排在首位，是因为正如马诺哈尔所说，“任何当代或现代组织的支柱都是数据。”在组织能够优化、自动化或应用AI之前，数据需要在各系统间无缝流动。
但在全球性组织中做到这一点绝非易事。捷普的100多个工厂在流程成熟度、遗留系统和本地化工作流方面各有不同水平，而受监管的业务还带来了额外的合规要求。因此，在不同地区和商业环境中实现标准化，意味着在不干扰现有运营的前提下改变流程和治理方式。
这项工作的价值不仅体现在技术上，也体现在使用技术的人身上。集成化的工作流可以让员工在数据方面获得共享的可见性，减少人工对账工作，帮助他们从追着信息跑转变为根据洞察采取行动。对捷普而言，目标还包括提升对供应链事件的实时可见性，从而能够更快应对干扰并降低运营风险。
展望未来，这一基础可以让AI和自动化变得更加有用和可扩展。在拥有可信数据和集成系统的前提下，捷普正在探索预测性供应链洞察、智能异常处理以及AI驱动的计划和预测能力。对马诺哈尔来说，结论很明确：“规模化下的简洁本身就是巨大的竞争优势，”技术投资最终必须与商业价值和运营韧性挂钩。
本期Business Lab节目由SAP联合制作。
完整文字记录：
梅根·塔图姆：来自《麻省理工科技评论》，我是梅根·塔图姆，这里是Business Lab——一档帮助商业领袖理解从实验室走向市场的新技术的节目。
我们今天的主题是企业技术集成，以及整合供应链中的工具和系统如何帮助组织在规模化运营中更加可靠。当企业减少工具泛滥并更有效地连接系统时，它们就能在生产线上获得更早的可见性、更快的响应和更强的韧性。
我今天的嘉宾是捷普公司SAP IT总监哈里什·马诺哈尔。捷普一直在推动技术架构简化的进程，以SAP集成套件为基础来连接系统、淘汰碎片化工具，并在全球范围内实现更一致的运营。
本期播客由SAP联合制作。
欢迎你，哈里什。
哈里什·马诺哈尔：你好，梅根。早上好。
梅根：非常感谢你来做客，哈里什。首先，为了设定一下背景，你能简单介绍一下捷普这家公司以及它的整体转型历程吗？
哈里什：好的。那么，关于捷普。捷普是一家全球制造企业，总部位于美国佛罗里达州圣彼得堡。我们拥有约60年的经验，为不同行业提供全面的工程、供应链和制造解决方案。我们的全球布局覆盖30多个国家、100多个工厂，员工超过14万人。
我们是全球400多个顶级品牌的信赖合作伙伴。以上就是关于捷普的基本情况。
梅根：非常好。你提到的这些数据确实显示了很大的规模。随着事情变得越来越复杂，割裂的工具和系统在哪些方面开始拖慢你们的速度，最终是什么促使你把集成作为战略优先事项？
哈里什：我刚才提到了我们在100多个工厂的全球布局。全球布局总是伴随着特定工厂工具的复杂性。我们的所有工厂都已经运营了很久，多年来它们各自拥有适合自己流程的工具。这有点割裂。
当我们着眼于扩展时，首先要审视的是这些工厂特定工具、人工变通做法、基于电子表格的流程和遗留应用的组合是怎样的。这是我们过去25年来积累的巨额技术债务。这就是我们的起点，也正是这些促使捷普将集成作为战略优先事项，因为我们在跨工厂、跨区域及早发现问题的能力有限，而这种能力本来可以帮助我们一致地协调应对措施，并一致地扩展这些应对措施。这种复杂性造成了数据孤岛，在某种程度上延迟了果断的决策。
随着全球范围内的复杂性与日俱增，集成对几个方面变得至关重要。它对建立单一可信数据主干至关重要，而这将直接推动整个网络中更快的协调响应。在捷普，作为转型之旅的一部分，我们相信在正确的时间拥有正确的数据会从根本上改变我们应对干扰的方式——这对制造企业来说就是一切。我们如何应对干扰。这就是我们将战略优先事项聚焦于建立集成系统、推动整个架构中数据一致性的起点。
梅根：非常好。正如你刚才所述，这显然有真实的商业需求，但你们是如何思考引入新技术而不增加更多复杂性的呢？
哈里什：好问题。每当我们谈论转型时，我们都会谈到当今那些前沿技术，比如AI、数据、云等。但对我们来说，非常重要的是要表明立场并采纳“先简化、后创新”的理念。因为任何没有简化的创新都会增加更多复杂性，正如你刚才提到的。
对我们来说，SAP是我们的核心数字平台。我们希望尽可能将更多流程纳入SAP。这说起来容易做起来难，因为我们是一家运营已久的全球性公司，目前并非所有流程都在SAP中。我们正在逐步尝试标准化这些流程，并将它们置于单一数据源之下，这将帮助我们在消除数据孤岛方面更快扩展。我们不希望在不同系统之间出现数据孤岛。
这就是我们开始引入SAP周边新能力的起点。从云的角度来看，我们一直在使用SAP的BTP和集成套件，它们正被证明是捷普所有集成的核心舞台。虽然还没完全到位，但这是我们希望追求的方向——我们不希望拥有五花八门的集成平台，而是尝试看看集成套件最适合用在哪里，以及哪些较小的集成平台能在哪里增加更多价值。
同样，我们采用了API驱动、基于事件的集成方法。这是我们制定的最佳实践，因为我们不希望不断地把数据从一个地方搬到另一个地方。在IT领域这不是好的商业实践。我们的大多数集成架构都是API驱动和基于事件的。这就是我们的重点。
回到你关于新技术的问题，我们希望尽可能多地复用和标准化，而不是去购买那些解决特定场景的一次性工具。我们真的不想走那条路。对于主要流程，我们确实采用择优选择的方案，但对于工厂级的使用场景——比如某个特定工厂对工具有特定需求——我们会尝试标准化并复用其他工厂已有的东西。业务过程可能需要一些改变，可能需要小幅的流程调整，但我们的方向就是做出这些流程调整并复用其他地区已有的资源。这是第一点。
最后，在定制化方面，我们与SAP的清洁核心方法高度保持一致。这是我们过去25年使用SAP以来一直面临的挑战——我们的系统高度定制化，因为我们服务全球不同的客户。我们的大多数需求是客户驱动的，所以不得不进行大量的定制化。
但现在我们停下来反思，我们说：“你知道吗？我们迄今已经定制化了太多，但现在我们要把系统迁移到RISE上，这将为未来的清洁核心之旅铺平道路。”现在我们必须制定真正良好的治理标准和审查流程，不允许对系统进行重度定制化。我们要尽可能远离那种模式。同样，在现阶段做到这点并不容易，但总要有个开始。
梅根：听起来你们采用了非常渐进、审慎的方式来推进这件事。当你们在全球扩展时，现代化在公司中具体是什么样子的？为什么从集成开始？
哈里什：关于这一点，我们一直以非常客观的态度看待转型和现代化。对我们来说，这不只是升级系统的问题。不是那样的。任何现代化或转型都应增加可衡量的商业价值——这是我们的模式，是我们的章程。话虽如此，我们看待现代化不只是从升级的角度，而是从它能给业务带来什么价值的角度。
我们大部分的现代化转型方法都聚焦于在整个供应链中端到端地连接流程，这对我们的商业价值至关重要。此外，我们还在业务侧大力推进一项工作：如何标准化我们工厂在全球范围内的运营方式。因为正如我之前提到的，我们有100多个工厂、不同的流程、不同的法律法规、不同的国家。要提出一套适用于全球的模板非常困难，但我们正在尽可能标准化。这正是我们利用SAP Signavio的地方，它是我们的业务流程管理工具。我们希望利用Signavio的能力来帮助我们标准化这些全球流程。
现在回到你的问题，为什么集成排在第一？因为任何当代或现代组织的支柱都是数据。要在正确的时间获得正确的数据，集成是整个优化工作的关键环节。在我们开始优化、自动化甚至应用AI用例之前，数据需要无缝流动。这就是为什么集成排在第一位。
我们希望在运营中创建一个单一的记录系统。当我说“单一记录系统”时，不只是SAP，还包括我们在这些记录系统之间创建数据管道的能力，涉及供应链、计划、库存等等，在运营领域里都是如此。
结果是，我们希望建立一个能够帮助我们在不同地区一致扩展的基础。我们的主要目标是：随着业务增长，随着我们发展成为一个跨行业的大型组织，我们如何扩展？我们如何建立这个能帮助我们一致扩展的基础？简洁和整合在规模化中成为战略资产。
梅根：确实如此。你提到了在捷普这样的规模和国际布局下推进这项工作的一些复杂性。在你看来，在各地区推广这项工作时最大的挑战是什么？你提到的那个更加标准化的方法是如何帮助应对这些挑战的？
哈里什：当然。我想重申我提到的那些关键挑战。100多个工厂，不同工厂在流程处理方式上有不同的成熟度。它们有各种各样的遗留系统、本地化流程、变通做法、电子表格，而且每个工厂内部的变革管理也各不相同。我们还有大量受严格监管的业务。谈到受监管的业务，它带来了围绕资质认证和CSD流程等的一系列挑战。这些就是我们面临的主要挑战。
标准化帮助我们在各工厂间提供一致的工作流、数据流和治理。当然我们还没有达到100%，但我们正在朝这个方向努力——在各工厂间提供一致的工作流、数据管道和治理。我们希望加快新前沿技术的部署。例如，当我谈到SAP的BTP、SAP Signavio或任何其他新的SAP工具或非SAP工具时，传统上我们部署这些工具的能力受到每个工厂都需要重度定制化的挑战。现在标准化方法消除了这种重度定制化的需求，使得那些新技术的部署更加快速。
最后，我们希望扩展到我们所有的工厂。我认为最初我们的目标是在40多个工厂中实施跨地区一致共享的流程。我们希望从逐个工厂的运营模式转变为企业能力导向的方法。
梅根：是的，这非常有意思。你也提到了人员管理方面的内容，因为这显然不只是技术问题，也涉及人员。那么从员工的角度来看，这种向更简化架构的转变如何改变了他们日常工作的体验？相比之前需要同时应付多种工具的情况？
哈里什：好问题。我一直在从业务团队那里听到关于这些转型举措的直接反馈，关于它们如何显著改变了他们的日常工作。在我们开始这段转型之旅之前，任何员工、任何角色——比如采购员、库存计划员、财务分析师，我们按角色来划分——他们不得不面对多种工具、人工协调、数据对账（尤其是在财务领域）以及跨地区不一致的流程。花在对账数据上的时间导致决策——重大决策的延迟。这是之前的情况。
但现在，随着我们朝着更标准化的和更多集成化的方向前进，我们已经在某种程度上实现了跨不同系统的单一集成工作流。我们已经构建了一些关键流程来实现跨系统的单一集成工作流。用户——我们的业务团队——无论他们在组织中担任什么角色，都能在团队之间获得清晰的可见性和共享数据，这非常重要。以前他们需要处理不同版本的数据、本地工作簿、电子表格，还要花时间互相沟通确认——哪个是正确的数据？什么才是单一事实来源？我们现在正试图剥离那一层复杂性，让员工不必再面对那种麻烦。
这减少了人工工作量，在面对实际干扰时能够更快解决问题。员工从追逐信息转变为专注于根据洞察采取行动——我认为这正是新AI时代发挥作用的地方。我稍后会谈到这一点——技术成为决策的赋能者，不再是一种负担。这就是我们的目标方向。
梅根：非常好。这是其中非常重要的一环，不是吗——人的方面？我们之前简要提到了你谈到的价值理念，因为对于这种规模的举措，投资回报率当然始终是核心关注点。对你来说最突出的收益是什么？特别是跨系统更好的可见性有多重要？
哈里什：梅根，我之前谈到过，对捷普来说现代化和转型意味着可衡量的商业价值，这与投资回报率直接挂钩。我们不会仅仅因为IT角度想做就去推进任何转型举措。我们在转型或现代化举措中的任何投资都必须有一个经过业务方批准和签署的可交付商业案例，因为只有IT和业务在转型过程中成为合作伙伴，真正的转型才会发生。
这项举措中我们看到的最大收益是，我们正在努力实现对供应链事件的实时可见性。这是我们看到的最大收益——更快地响应干扰和异常情况。我们正在努力通过这种新模式显著降低运营风险。
我可以给你举一个例子——我之前提到的统一工作流。它使我们能够更早地识别物料短缺问题，并在各工厂间更快地解决。对于拥有全球布局的制造企业来说，物料是整个供应链流程的核心，对吧？拥有一个能够在早期识别物料短缺问题的统一工作流，对我们的整个运营团队来说是一个改变游戏规则的突破。
实时分析允许即时调整供应链而无需延迟。我们非常注重建立全球性的分析体系，使供应链能够即时调整而无任何延迟。这就是AI目前以及不久的将来将要发挥重要作用的地方。
再说回可见性。可见性不仅仅是将系统中已有的内容进行报告。可见性应该直接赋能用户进行情景建模，以便对他们的流程做出战略性调整；可见性还应该为主动决策铺平道路，并促进业务连续性。这就是我们在捷普看待可见性的方式。
梅根：是的。你们当然还在推进这个过程中，但既然捷普现在已经有了强大的集成基础，接下来它会为你们打开什么可能性？你们对AI和自动化有怎样的考量——你已多次提到这个话题了？
哈里什：是的，我们已多次谈到AI。我们坚定地相信，在捷普，强大的集成基础可以实现事件驱动的实时流程、稳健的决策和可扩展的自动化——所有这一切都能让AI用例的采纳更加容易。而且，我们正处于AI的新时代。我们正在努力朝向一个AI赋能的企业迈进，但拥有这些基础确实能加速我们AI用例的推进路径。
关于AI和自动化，我在近期未来的关键关注领域包括：预测性供应链洞察、智能异常处理——这从工厂运营角度来说对我们的业务运营至关重要。智能异常处理非常非常关键。在供应链方面，我谈到了预测性洞察。那也绝对重要。所有这些都能实现AI驱动的计划和预测能力。
对我们来说，AI应该增强真正的决策能力和稳健决策，交付可衡量的价值，而不是仅仅在用例中试验AI。我们希望超越仅仅在业务流程中试验AI的阶段，而是让我们所实施的AI真正增强我们的决策过程，并交付关键的商业价值。
这一切如何与集成联系起来？集成确保AI能够访问可信数据，并使AI能够在像捷普这样的全球性公司中跨多个系统采取行动。
梅根：非常好。最后，我想请教一些对其他人的建议。对那些目前正在应对工具泛滥问题的领导者，关于从一开始就优先考虑集成，你有哪些关键经验可以分享？
哈里什：当然。谈到工具泛滥，我们可以整天谈论工具泛滥的各个领域：应用开发领域有大量工具；集成领域有大量工具；数据领域有大量工具。但让我们聚焦在集成上——这才是这里的核心话题。
我建议那些在组织中担任转型角色的人，把集成作为基础来开始，而不是事后才想起来。对——优先考虑简化，而不是添加一大堆不同的工具来解决不同的能力需求。在开始升级或转型之旅之前，尽可能简化。优先考虑标准化，而不是本地优化工具。努力做到这一点。让业务团队——业务领域的关键专家——理解标准化和简化流程的价值，以及这如何帮助你的业务更快地交付价值。
第二个建议——在设定了优先级之后：尽可能建立单一数据源。我不是说像捷普这样规模的组织总能仅靠SAP运作。它们会有不同的系统，但努力达到一个与单一事实来源协作的模式，而不是本地孤立的数据源，对吧？
接下来是专注于构建可扩展的集成架构。不要把自己局限在当前状态，构建一个只能服务未来六个月到一年的东西。不，那不是目标。你构建的任何集成架构应该是可扩展的，应该能为组织服务三到五年。我就是这样看待的。当我在引入一个新的架构模式或新的事件驱动洞察时，我会思考：“好，捷普两年后、三年后会处于什么位置？这个架构能适应那个规模吗？”我就是这样思考的。
然后专注于结果而不仅仅是技术。关注结果：速度、可见性、韧性——而不只是技术部署。因为归根结底，IT和业务应该围绕着商业价值而非仅仅是技术升级来合作。
回到原点，规模化的简洁是一种巨大的竞争优势，技术投资必须直接与商业价值和运营韧性挂钩。这就是我们在捷普对待工具泛滥和从一开始就优先考虑集成的方式。这也是我给那些希望在这一领域取得进展的领导者们的建议。
梅根：太好了。非常精彩且全面的建议。非常感谢你，哈里什。也感谢你来做客。刚才与我们交流的是捷普公司SAP IT总监哈里什·马诺哈尔，我是从英国布莱顿与他进行的对话。
以上就是本期Business Lab的全部内容。我是你们的主持人梅根·塔图姆。我是《麻省理工科技评论》定制出版部门Insights的撰稿编辑。我们于1899年在马萨诸塞理工学院创立，你可以在纸质刊物、网络以及我们每年在世界各地举办的活动中找到我们。关于我们和这档节目的更多信息，请访问我们的网站technologyreview.com。
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Facilitating AI integration with simplicity at scale
Simplifying and integrating enterprise technology can help companies move faster, respond to disruptions, and build a stronger foundation for AI, says Harish Manohar, SAP IT Director at Jabil.
In partnership withSAP
As companies scale, the technology supporting operations can become a liability just as quickly as it becomes an asset. Disconnected systems, site-specific tools, spreadsheets, and manual workarounds can create data silos that make it harder to spot problems early, coordinate responses, and make decisions with confidence. For Jabil, a global manufacturing company with more than 100 sites across more than 30 countries, the answer has been to make integration and simplification a priority.
The company adopted a “simplify-first, then-innovate mindset,” says Harish Manohar, SAP IT director at Jabil, recognizing that adding new technologies without first reducing complexity risks creating more risk. The goal is to standardize processes, consolidate where possible, and establish a more consistent data backbone across the organization. “Any innovation without simplification is going to add more complexity,” Manohar says.
That philosophy also changes how Jabil approaches modernization. “Any modernization or transformation should add measurable business value,” Manohar says. The company is focused on connecting processes end-to-end across its supply chain and creating a foundation that can scale consistently across regions. Integration comes first because, as Manohar puts it, “the backbone of any contemporary or modern organization is data.” Before organizations can optimize, automate, or apply AI, data needs to flow seamlessly across systems.
But doing that across a global organization is hardly straightforward. Jabil’s more than 100 sites operate with different levels of process maturity, legacy systems, and localized workflows, while regulated businesses bring additional compliance requirements. As such, standardizing across different regions and business environments means changing processes and governance without disrupting the operations already in place.
The value of that work extends beyond the technology to the people using it. Integrated workflows can offer employees shared visibility into data, reduce manual data reconciliation, and help them move from chasing information to acting on insights. For Jabil, the aim is also to improve real-time visibility into supply chain events, which can enable faster responses to disruptions and reduce operational risk.
Looking to the future, that foundation could make AI and automation all the more useful and scalable. With trusted data and integrated systems in place, Jabil is exploring predictive supply chain insights, intelligent exception handling, and AI-driven planning and forecasting. To Manohar, the takeaway is clear: "Simplicity at scale is a very competitive advantage,” and technology investments must ultimately connect to business value and operational resilience.
This episode of Business Lab is produced in partnership with SAP.
Full Transcript:
Megan Tatum: From MIT Technology Review, I'm Megan Tatum, and this is Business Lab, the show that helps business leaders make sense of new technologies coming out of the lab and into the marketplace.
Our topic today is enterprise technology integration, and how the benefits of consolidating tools and systems across the supply chain help organizations operate more reliably at scale. When companies reduce tool sprawl and connect their systems more effectively, they gain earlier visibility, faster response, and greater resilience across production lines.
My guest today is Harish Manohar, SAP IT Director at Jabil. Jabil has been on a journey to simplify its technology landscape by using SAP Integration Suite as the foundation to connect systems, retire fragmented tools, and enable more consistent operations globally.
This podcast is produced in partnership with SAP.
Welcome, Harish.
Harish Manohar: Hello, Megan. Good morning.
Megan: Thank you so much for being here, Harish. Just to start, if we could set some context, can you give us a quick overview of Jabil, the business and its overall transformation journey?
Harish: All right. So, about Jabil. Jabil is a global manufacturing company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. We have about 60 years of experience offering comprehensive engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions across different industries. We have a global footprint of about over 100 different sites across 30-plus countries, 140,000-plus employees.
We are a trusted partner for more than 400 of the world's top brands. That's a little bit about Jabil.
Megan: Fantastic. And a lot of scale there, as you're referring to some of the stats there. As things have got more complex, where did disconnected tools and systems start to slow you down, and what ultimately drove you to make integration a really strategic priority?
Harish: I talked about our global footprint across 100-plus sites. With a global footprint always comes complexity about site-specific tools. All of our sites have been in business for a long time, and over the period of years, they had their own tools for their own processes. It's a little bit disconnected.
When we are looking to scale, the first thing we wanted to start looking at is what is this mix of site-specific tools, manual workarounds, spreadsheet-based processes, legacy applications, whatnot? That's a big technical debt that we have had over the last 25 years. That's where we started, and that is what led Jabil to make integration a strategic priority because we had limited ability to see issues early across plants, across regions, which would help us to coordinate responses consistently, and also to be able to scale those responses consistently. This complexity created data silos, and in a way delayed robust decision-making.
As the complexity increased globally, integration became extremely critical to a few things. It was critical to establishing a single trusted data backbone, which would directly enable faster coordinated responses across the network. We at Jabil, as part of our transformation journey, believe that having the right data at the right time fundamentally changes how we respond to disruptions, which is all about a manufacturing business. How we respond to disruptions. This is where we started our strategic priority towards having a integrated system that drove data consistency across our landscape.
Megan: Fantastic. As you have outlined there, there was obviously a real commercial need for this, but how did you think about bringing in those new technologies without adding even more complexity to the mix?
Harish: Great question. Whenever we talk about transformation, we talk about all these bleeding-edge technologies that are out there today when it comes to AI and data, cloud, et cetera. But it was very important for us to put a stake in the ground and say and adopt a simplify-first, then-innovate mindset. Because any innovation without simplification is going to add more complexity, just like you mentioned.
For us, SAP is our core digital platform. We want to focus on bringing more processes into SAP as much as possible. That is easier said than done because we have been in business for a while, global company, so not all processes exist within SAP at this point in time. We are slowly trying to standardize those processes, and having them under one single source of data would help us scale faster in terms of having data silos. We don't want data silos across different systems.
This is where we started to introduce newer capabilities around SAP. From a cloud standpoint, we have been using SAP's BTP and Integration Suite, which is proving to be the center stage of all integrations across Jabil. Well, it's not there yet, but that is the direction that we want to pursue is we don't want to have a slew of different integration platforms, rather try and see where Integration Suite fits best and where other smaller integration platforms would add more value.
Similarly, we have adopted an API-driven, event-based integration approach. That is our best practice that we have put down because we don't want to keep moving data from one place to the other. That's not good business practice in the IT world. Most of our integration architectures are API-driven and event-based. That is our focus.
Coming back to your new technologies perspective, we want to reuse as much as possible and standardize versus going out and buying these one-off tools that solve for point-in-case use cases. We really don't want to go down that path. For major processes, we do adopt a best-of-breed approach, but for, let's say, site-based use cases where a specific site has a particular need for a tool, we try and standardize that and reuse what exists in a different site, for example. There may be some need for a business process change, minor process changes, but that is our direction to make those process changes and reuse what is there already in a different location or a different region. So, that's one.
Lastly, we are heavily aligned with SAP's clean-core approach when it comes to customization. That has been the challenge for us over the last 25 years where we have been using SAP is our systems are heavily customized because we cater to different customers across the globe. Most of our demands are customer-driven, so we have to put in play these heavy customizations.
But now we are taking a pause, and we are saying, "You know what? We have customized so much so far, but now we are moving our systems into RISE, which would enable a clean-core journey in the future." Now we have to put really good governance criteria and review processes that do not allow heavy customization of our system. We want to move away from that model as much as possible. Again, it's not easy to do that at this point in time, but there is always a start.
Megan: I mean, it sounds like you took a very incremental, intentional approach to this. I mean, as you scaled globally then, what did modernization really look like at the company, and why start with integration?
Harish: To that point, we have always looked at transformation, modernization, very objectively. For us, it's just not about upgrading a system. That's not what it is. Any modernization or transformation should add measurable business value is our model, is our charter. Having said that, we don't look at modernization in terms of just upgrades, but in what it gets our business in terms of value.
Most of our modernization transformation approaches are focused on connecting processes end-to-end across our supply chain, which is key for our business value. And then we also have a very concerted effort going on in the business community: how to standardize how our plants operate globally. Because, like I mentioned earlier, we have 100-plus plants, different processes, different legal regulations, different countries. It's very hard for us to come up with one template across the globe, but we are trying to standardize as much as possible. And that's where we are leveraging SAP's Signavio, which is our business process management tool. We want to leverage Signavio's capabilities in helping us standardize these global processes.
Now, back to your question, why did integration come first? Because the backbone of any contemporary or modern organization is data. And to get the right data at the right time, integration is the key aspect of the whole optimization exercise. Data needed to flow seamlessly before we start optimizing or automating or even applying AI use cases. This is where integration came first.
We wanted to create a single system of record across the operations. Well, when I say "single system of record," it's not just SAP, but the ability for us to create those data pipelines across those systems of record being supply chain, planning, inventory, et cetera, et cetera, in that operation space.
The result is we want to get to a foundation that helps us scale consistently across our different region. That is our main objective is to, how do we scale as the business grows, as we develop into this bigger organization across different industries? How do we set this foundation that will help us scale consistently? Simplicity, consolidation becomes strategic assets at scale.
Megan: Absolutely. And you touched on some of the complexities there of doing this at a scale that Jabil is at with its international footprint. What were some of the biggest challenges in your view in terms of rolling this out across regions, and how did that more standardized approach that you've mentioned there help?
Harish: Absolutely. I would like to reiterate some of those key challenges I mentioned. One hundred-plus sites, different sites have different maturity levels in terms of how they approach processes. They have a multitude of different legacy systems, localized processes, workarounds, spreadsheets, and the change management that exists within each site is very different. And we do have a footprint of highly regulated businesses. And when it comes to regulated businesses, that comes with its own set of challenges around qualification and CSD processes, et cetera. These are the key challenges that we are up against.
Now, the standardization helped us provide consistent workflows, data flows, and governance across sites. Now, we are not there at 100%, but we are working towards that, providing consistent workflows, data pipelines, and governance across sites. And we want to enable faster rollouts of our new bleeding edge technologies. For example, when I talked about SAP's BTP or SAP Signavio or any other new SAP tool or non-SAP tool, traditionally our ability to deploy those had a challenge around the heavy customization that is required for each and every site. Now, the standardization approach takes that heavy customization out, which enables a faster rollout of those newer technologies.
And then lastly, we want to scale across all of our plants. I think initially we want a target of about 40-plus plants with shared processes that are consistent across the different regions. We want to shift from a site-by-site operations model to more of an enterprise-capability approach.
Megan: Right, and fascinating. And you touched on the people management aspect of this as well, because obviously this isn't just about technology, it's about people too. So, from the employee side, how did this shift to a more simplified landscape change the day-to-day experience for people compared to juggling multiple tools at once?
Harish: Great question. And I've been hearing direct feedback from our business community on some of these transformation initiatives on how those have changed their daily jobs significantly. Before we embarked on this transformation journey, any employee, any persona. You take a buyer, you take an inventory planner, you take a finance analyst, we go by personas. They had to deal with multiple tools, manual coordination, data reconciliation, especially in the finance space, inconsistent processes across different regions. And then the time spent reconciling data resulted in delay of making decisions, robust decisions. This was the before.
But now, since we are moving towards this newer standardization and more of an integration approach, we are able to achieve, to a certain extent, a single integrated workflow across different systems. We have built some key processes that will enable the single integrated workflows across systems. The users, our business community, irrespective of their roles in the organization, have clear visibility and shared data across their teams, which is very important. Earlier, they were dealing with different versions of the data, local workbooks, spreadsheets, and then the time spent talking to each other and reconciling what is the right data? What is the single source of truth? That we are trying to peel away that layer and get to that where the employees don't have to deal with that kind of complexity.
This reduces manual effort and enables faster issue resolution when it comes to actual disruptions. Employees move from chasing information to focusing on acting on insights, which is where I think the new age of AI comes into play. I'll talk about that in a little bit, but technology becomes an enabler of decision-making, and it's no more an overhead. That's where we want to go.
Megan: Fantastic. Such an important element of this, isn't it, that people side of things? And we've touched briefly on this idea of value you've talked about before, because with an initiative of this scale, ROI is always front and center, of course. What benefits stood out most for you, and how important was better visibility in particular across systems?
Harish: Megan, I talked about how modernization and transformation for Jabil means measurable business value, which is directly connected to the ROI. We don't do any transformation initiatives just because we want to do it from an IT standpoint. Any investment that we make in a transformation or a modernization initiative has to have a deliverable business case that is approved, signed off by business, because that is the only way true transformation happens, if IT and business are a partner as part of this transformation journey.
The biggest benefit that we have seen in this initiative is we are striving to reach, attain real-time visibility across our supply chain events. That is the biggest benefit that we see, faster response to disruptions and exceptions. And we are working to reduce our operational risk significantly by operating in this newer model.
One example I can give you is the unified workflows that I talked about earlier. It enabled earlier identification of missing materials and faster resolution across our sites. When it comes to a manufacturing company that has a global footprint, materials are the backbone of our whole supply chain process, right? Having a unified workflow, which is able to identify missing materials early in the game, was a game changer for our whole operations community.
Real-time analytics allow instant supply chain adjustments without delays. We are focusing a lot on getting analytics, a global analytic footprint in place that allows instant supply chain adjustments without any delays. That's where AI is going to play a major role currently, and also in the near future.
And again, when you talk about visibility. Visibility is not just about reporting what is there in the system. Visibility directly should enable scenario modeling for our users to make strategic adjustments in their processes, which visibility also should make way for proactive decision-making, and also foster business continuity. This is how we look at visibility at Jabil.
Megan: Right. And you're still on this journey, of course, but now that Jabil has a strong integration foundation in place, what does it unlock next for you, and how are you thinking about AI and automation as you've touched on a couple of times?
Harish: Yeah, we have talked about a couple of times around AI. So, we strongly believe at Jabil, a strong integration foundation enables event-driven, real-time processes, robust decision-making, scalable automation, and all of this enable easier adoption of AI use cases. And again, we are in the new age of AI. We are working towards getting to a AI-enabled enterprise, but having these foundations in place truly fast tracks our approach of AI use cases.
Our key focus areas, when I'm thinking about AI and automation in the immediate future, are predictive supply chain insights, intelligent exception handling, which is key to our business operations from a site operation standpoint. Intelligent exception handling is very, very key. On the supply chain side, I talked about predictive insights. That is also absolutely important. All of this enables AI-driven planning and forecasting capabilities.
For us, AI should augment true decision-making and robust decision-making, and deliver measurable value, not just experiment AI in use cases. We want to move beyond just experimenting AI in our business processes, but we want that AI that we implement to truly augment the decision-making process that we have, and also deliver key business value.
How does all this connect to integration? Integration ensures AI has access to trusted data, and also enables the ability to act across multiple systems in a global company like Jabil.
Megan: Fantastic. And if we could just finish, I suppose, with a little bit of advice for others, for other leaders, perhaps, dealing with tool sprawl at the moment, what are some key lessons you would say you've learned about prioritizing integration right from the start?
Harish: Absolutely. When it comes to tool sprawl, we can go all day about what are the different areas of tool sprawl? For example, application development, we have a multitude of tools; via integration, we have a multitude of tools. Data, we have a multitude of tools, but let's just focus on integration. That's the core topic here.
I would recommend folks that are in transformative roles in their organizations to start with integration as a foundation and not as an afterthought, right? Prioritize simplification over adding a slew of different tools to address different capabilities. Try and simplify as much as possible before we start your upgrade or your transformation journey. Standardize over locally optimizing tools. Try and get to that. Try and get the business community, your key SMEs in the business space, to understand the value of standardization and simplification of processes and how that enables your business to deliver value faster.
Second one, after prioritize: build a single source of truth for data as much as possible. I'm not saying it's going to be always the case where an organization as in the scale of Jabil will be able to function just with SAP. They're going to have different systems, but try and get to a model where you're working with a single source of truth and not locally siloed data sources, right?
Next is focus on building a scalable integration architecture. Don't just confine yourselves to the current state where you are, and build something in place that will only serve you for the next six months to a year. No, that's not the goal. Anything that you build as an integration architecture should be scalable, and should serve the organization for the next three to five years. That's how I look at it. When I'm putting in a new architecture pattern or a new event-driven insights, I look at, "Okay, where is Jabil going to be two years, three years down the line? Would this suffice for that scale?" That's how I look at it.
Then focus on outcomes and not just technology. Focus on outcomes: speed, visibility, resilience, and not just technology deployment, because end of the day, IT and business should partner on the business value and not just technology upgrades.
Going back, simplicity at scale is a very competitive advantage, and technology investments must tie directly to business value and operational resilience. That's how we look at Jabil in terms of our tool sprawl and how we prioritize integration right from the start. And that's what I would suggest to other leaders that are looking to advance in this space.
Megan: Fantastic. Brilliant and very comprehensive advice. Thank you ever so much, Harish. And thank you ever so much for joining us. That was Harish Manohar, SAP IT Director at Jabil, whom I spoke with from Brighton in England.
That's it for this episode of Business Lab. I'm your host, Megan Tatum. I'm a contributing editor at Insights, the custom publishing division of MIT Technology Review. We were founded in 1899 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and you can find us in print, on the web, and at events each year around the world. For more information about us and the show, please check out our website at technologyreview.com.
This show is available wherever you get your podcasts. And if you enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll take a moment to rate and review us. Business Lab is a production of MIT Technology Review, and this episode was produced by Giro Studios. Thanks so much for listening. Goodbye.
This content was produced by Insights, MIT Technology Review’s custom content arm, not its editorial staff. It was researched and written by humans, with any AI tools that may have been used limited to production processes under human oversight.
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