Bijoy Sagar on driving digital transformation at Bayer and beyond
Bayer
is
using
drones
to
collect
farming
data
across
80
million
acres
and
satellite
data
to
predict
soil
moisture
down
to
the
square
meter.
Bayer
is
using
drones
to
collect
farming
data
across
80
million
acres
and
satellite
data
to
predict
soil
moisture
down
to
the
square
meter.
These
are
just
two
examples
in
a
transformation
that
is
impacting
every
part
of
the
business
and
all
100,000
employees,
as
undertaken
under
the
helm
of
Bijoy
Sagar,
the
multinational’s
chief
information
technology
and
digital
transformation
officer.
I
recently
had
a
chance
to
discuss
Bayer’s
tiered
approach
to
digital
transformation
with
Sagar,
as
well
as
the
IT
chief’s
thoughts
on
ramping
up
digital
literacy
in
the
C-suite
and
the
determining
the
right
time
to
disrupt
your
legacy
business.
On
the
heels
of
one
of
the
largest
cloud
transformations
in
Europe,
Sagar
has
Bayer
on
track
for
a
highly
digital
future.
Following
are
excerpts
from
that
conversation.
Martha
Heller:
How
would
you
describe
Bayer’s
digital
transformation?
Bijoy
Sagar:
We
have
three
tiers
of
digital
transformation.
The
first
is
building
new
business
models.
For
example,
we
have
a
new
digital
farming
business
with
drones
that
cover
80
million
acres
and
collect
a
tremendous
amount
of
data.
We
have
our
own
access
to
satellite
data,
so
we
can
predict
within
one
square
meter
the
moisture
and
content
of
soil,
and
we
use
those
algorithms
to
plant
crops.
We
are
also
collaborating
with
Microsoft
to
build
an
open
platform
marketplace
in
the
crop
world.
This
will
allow
us
to
develop
new
solutions
for
farming
operations,
manufacturing,
supply
chain,
and
sustainable
sourcing,
The
second
tier
is
digitizing
our
internal
processes,
and
transforming
HR,
finance,
and
R&D
to
support
our
new
digital
platform
businesses.
We
have
hundreds
of
data
scientists
embedded
in
the
company,
who
are
working
on
algorithms
to
automate
internal
processes.
This
work
is
directly
tied
to
our
Global
Business
Services
strategy
so
that
we
get
maximum
leverage
out
of
our
scale.
The
third
tier,
which
might
be
the
least
glamorous,
is
to
create
the
infrastructure
to
support
these
new
digital
businesses
and
processes.
This
quarter,
we
are
kicking
off
an
all-cloud
SAP
4/HANA
implementation
that
will
bring
more
than
100
ERP
instances
down
to
two.
In
addition
to
the
all-cloud
ERP,
what
architectural
decisions
are
you
making?
We
are
driving
an
architecture
strategy
to
move
everything
to
one
single
middleware
platform,
and
we
are
creating
an
API-first
ecosystem,
because
new
digital
businesses
cannot
run
on
old
plumbing.
With
cybersecurity,
we
are
implementing
zero
trust
across
the
board.
Countries
are
changing
their
rules
on
personal
data,
and
I
believe
the
internet
is
heading
to
‘splinternet.’
How
do
you
build
a
network
architecture
that
works
in
the
splinternet?
These
architectural
elements
are
a
part
of
our
digital
transformation
journey.
How
is
the
digital
business
different
from
the
legacy
business?
We
have
disrupted
our
traditional
supply
chain
model
by
moving
it
online
and
changing
it
to
a
subscription
model.
The
new
model
is
more
predictable
and
has
healthier
margins.
But
to
make
a
platform
business
model
work,
you
must
be
a
market
leader.
If
you
are
building
a
platform
business
in
undifferentiated
product
areas,
the
consumer
will
not
be
interested
enough.
You
need
to
establish
market
primacy
before
you
disrupt
your
traditional
business.
What
was
your
playbook
for
developing
these
digital
businesses?
The
first
was
getting
our
leadership
to
speak
the
same
digital
language.
We
partnered
with
a
business
school
to
take
our
leaders
through
a
three-week
course,
so
that
we
could
have
productive,
collaborative
discussions
about
digital
risk
and
opportunity.
That
was
playbook
rule
number
one,
and
it
took
some
time.
The
second
was
defining
the
business
model.
Should
it
be
a
brand-new
direct-to-consumer
business,
or
should
we
provide
digital
support
to
our
current
business
model?
We
spent
a
fair
amount
of
experimentation
time
to
figure
this
out.
The
third
rule
in
the
playbook
is
to
have
patience.
While
we
wanted
everyone
on
board
right
way,
we
learned
that
it
can
take
some
time
before
digital
risk
and
opportunity
become
real
and
relevant
for
people.
This
is
where
skepticism
can
creep
in.
People
will
think,
‘We
all
agreed
to
this
strategy,
but
where
is
the
return
on
that
investment?’
Bayer
just
completed
one
of
the
largest
cloud
transformations
in
Europe.
What
advice
do
you
have
for
CIOs
moving
from
an
on-prem
to
a
cloud
infrastructure?
The
first
is
to
do
your
homework
before
you
start
the
program.
If
you
are
at
a
company
with
dozens
of
years
of
technical
debt,
you
must
transform
those
processes
and
middleware
before
you
move
to
the
cloud.
If
you
don’t
change
your
processes
ahead
of
time,
your
journey
to
the
cloud
will
be
constantly
interrupted
because
you
will
be
cleaning
up
the
mess
as
you
go.
Second,
have
a
clear
roadmap
for
the
older
systems
that
will
not
move
to
the
cloud.
Some
can
be
containerized
and
isolated,
but
others
cannot.
If
you
don’t
have
a
clear
plan
—
and
this
happened
to
us
—
you
start
to
move
to
the
cloud
and
then
realize
there
were
additional
interfaces
that
you
needed
to
clean.
Third,
have
a
very
strong
relationship
with
your
hyperscaler
partners,
because
you
will
need
them
to
solve
problems
along
the
way.
Fourth,
have
a
very
good
data
lifecycle
management
strategy.
Older
companies
tend
to
have
a
lot
of
data,
so
they
need
a
long-term
strategy
for
different
data
types.
How
much
time,
for
example,
do
you
need
to
keep
data
for
regulatory
compliance
and
algorithm
training?
And
then
of
course,
we
would
not
have
been
successful
in
any
of
this
without
a
dedicated,
hard-working,
and
professional
team.
What
attributes
do
you
look
for
in
your
senior
team?
Transparency,
honesty,
integrity,
and
credibility.
When
they
say
something,
will
people
believe
them?
Are
they
putting
the
agenda
of
the
company
ahead
of
their
personal
agenda?
I
also
look
for
the
ability
to
create
followership,
because
a
leader
without
followers
is
just
a
person
going
for
a
walk.
My
senior
leaders
also
need
a
strategic
mindset.
Are
they
looking
at
the
next
quarter
or
a
three-year
horizon?
As
you
move
up
in
in
the
organization,
your
horizon
needs
to
expand.
Finally,
I
hire
people
who
are
very
different
from
me;
I
hire
against
my
weakness.
What
advice
do
you
have
for
CIOs
driving
transformation?
Transformation
is
not
about
technology;
it
is
about
change.
Paint
the
picture.
Why
would
anyone
make
this
difficult
journey?
What’s
on
the
other
end?
If
you
don’t
paint
the
picture,
people
will
see
only
the
pain
in
front
of
them,
because
no
transformation
is
painless.
Also,
keep
in
mind
the
ethical
use
of
all
these
technologies.
Just
because
you
can
do
something
doesn’t
mean
you
should.
Finally,
remember
that
your
biggest
stakeholder
is
your
employee
base.
Make
sure
all
of
those
employees
are
excited
to
go
on
the
journey
with
you.
Convincing
the
board
and
the
external
world
can
be
easier
than
convincing
the
employee
base.
We
engineers
don’t
always
focus
on
the
people
part
of
change,
so
we
need
to
consciously
adjust
our
focus.
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