UKISUG Connect: Keynote Takeaways Part 2 - The Twinings Ovaltine Digital Transformation Journey
In our previous blog, we highlighted some of the key themes that came out of UKISUG and SAP’s keynotes at Connect. This time we are taking a look at the conference’s customer keynote as we were delighted to be joined by Sandeep Seeripat, General Manager of Business Transformation at Twinings Ovaltine. Since joining as CIO in 2019, Sandeep has transformed Twinings’ traditional IT services into a consumer-focused technology capability, with an AI-first mindset.
In his keynote, Sandeep discussed why Twinings undertook such a significant digital transformation and the seven key steps that contributed to its success.
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Lead with authenticity and humility
To be successful, Twinings’ transformation project required leadership that is authentic, humble and solution-oriented. This created an environment where the team was able to make difficult decisions, while also allowing them the space to share their input and shape the project.
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Establish true sponsorship and partnership
Twinings established clear ownership and sponsorship of the transformation project from the outset. This helped ensure the right levels of accountability throughout the project while at the same time fostering genuine collaboration.
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Create a zero-blame culture
The guiding principle of the project’s culture was “let’s make the boat go faster.” Anything that detracted from this goal was discarded in favour of a more result-oriented alternative. One area where this had a huge impact was the shift from fault-finding to problem-solving, with a zero-blame culture. This built psychological safety and encouraged team members to highlight issues and work together to resolve them. Ultimately, this created a “one team” mindset that drove the project.
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Treat the programme as a family
By treating everyone involved in the project equally – whether they were internal employees or external technology partners – Twinings ensured that the entire project team was fully aligned. This required external partners to leave their goals at the door and instead buy into the outcomes targeted by the digital transformation. Ultimately, this reduced friction between teams and helped the project run more smoothly.
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Anchor delivery around a clear methodology
Twinings’ transformation methodology became its North Star. This provided the project with a single, consistent framework, giving clarity on what to do, when to do it and how to deliver. This removed any ambiguity within the project, significantly accelerating decision-making throughout the programme.
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Keep the core clean
SAP has frequently highlighted the benefits of keeping the core clean and Twinings took this to heart. Throughout the project, the team tried to avoid customisations as far as possible. When customisation was needed, extensions were built in SAP BTP, helping to avoid long-term technical debt, simplifying maintenance and enabling innovation at pace.
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Drive purposeful cultural change
Ultimately, Twinings’ digital transformation could not have happened without cultural change. By adopting a results-driven culture, which was open to change, Twinings was able to move to consumer-focused technology offering, putting AI at the core of its operations to improve services.
If you’re interested in hearing more customer stories be sure to pick up your tickets for next year’s conference.
Summary of Our Monday Keynotes:
