The evolution from automation to autonomy

Tom Stoneman:

I’m Tom Stoneman, and this is The Intelligent Enterprise, where every two weeks we take a break from the chaos of enterprise life and get inside a big idea by getting outside of it. Each episode, we meet an industry expert who helps cut through the noise from all the updates and the rollouts while exploring one of their favorite break-time activities. It might be over a coffee, a walk, or even a game of ping pong, something that gives them some head space when they’re deep in a problem, although we try to avoid things like bungee jumping or paragliding.

This week, I sit down with our very own CEO at Digitate, Akhilesh Tripathi, to talk about what it really takes to build an enterprise that harnesses the full potential of AI. Akhilesh has spent more than two decades at Tata Consultancy Services, where he’s played a key role in expanding the company’s footprint across North America. Today, Akhilesh leads Digitate with a clear focus on using AI to help enterprises operate more intelligently. We talked about why the future of enterprise AI isn’t just about automation, it’s about intelligence.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Automation without intelligence would never get you to autonomous. I think we’ll always be reacting to something, and then that to me is not intelligent.

Tom Stoneman:

And why the best use of AI is not replacing people, but rather freeing us humans to do what we do best.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Technology doesn’t drive transformation, people do.

Tom Stoneman:

Let’s get inside the future of enterprises by stepping outside of them. Welcome, Akhilesh.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Thank you, Tom, for having me, and thank you for all the kind words.

Tom Stoneman:

So this is going to be a fun session. We’re going to start off with something that’s not tech, but something we talk to all of our guests about, and that’s what do you do outside of the office to kind of clear your head?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I do many things in sports, but my favorite is probably ping pong. It’s a good way to reset. I find it’s a lot like human brain. There’s a lot going on, fast reflexes, a lot of action, but you’re still around the table. So there’s a calm outside, and that’s the aspect. It serves as a good distraction from whatever is going on and helps you clear up your head.

Tom Stoneman:

Well, I knew the answer to that one because there’s a ping pong table right in the office.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Right.

Tom Stoneman:

Of course, I work at Digitate.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

And if you remember, we moved it from the other side of the office to bring it closer to where I work.

Tom Stoneman:

I remember. Yeah. In fact, I remember there were ping pong tournaments actually.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Right, right, right.

Tom Stoneman:

All right. Let’s move into our topic today and see if we can dive right in. So one of the big questions surrounding AI today is how do we create technology that augments human capabilities without going so far that technology replaces the need for human work entirely? Do you feel that both AI and humans are thriving together today?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I absolutely believe in that. I did a blog some time ago on how humans in AI will shape the autonomous enterprise where I talked about achieving, let’s call a delicate balance where technology augments human capabilities rather than replacing it. In my view, if it’s done right, I think the synergy accelerate innovation and empowers people’s value to focus on creativity and high value work. If you think about today, the hiring, I don’t quite remember where I was listening to this, but they said that the order of hiring is experienced professionals.

So tech professionals who have a good understanding of AI, followed by fresh college grads with good understanding of AI, followed by experienced professionals who don’t know AI, followed by college grads who don’t know AI. So you can already see that I think human and AI together, that skill is more in demand. And if you look at the current crop of wipe coding tools, everybody’s talking about how what used to take five months now takes less than a month.

And I think the creativity and the pace at which you can innovate and you can build new things is just targeting. It’s an early sign and we have not even started scratching the surface of what is possible. It’s very early days still, but I’m absolutely optimistic about, I would say bullish about what humans and AI together can create for the world.

Tom Stoneman:

That’s good. Yeah. VS and I were just talking about this on the holiday episode. Do you see any of the tensions growing with these relationships, especially in the enterprise environments?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Yes, there is a tension. And I think tension normally comes from, in my view, lack of transparency and lack of communication. So there is a fear of displacement or lack of clarity of what the next role would look like. Or if people don’t know that, I think don’t feel the comfort that by creating this, they have other possibilities. That’s when I think this tension comes into play. So if enterprises who are communicating that AI tool is for our augmentation and it’s not for replacement, and they’re investing in re-skilling employees, they’re making them empowered to do more with AI, and they’re encouraging them to kind of drive with the ideas and do high level work. They’ll not feel threatened, and if they don’t feel threatened, the tension will go away.

Tom Stoneman:

Just to go a little bit deeper into that, what do you see as fundamental pillars for success with human AI collaboration?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Three or four things come to my mind. Number one, I think this clarity of vision is important. The clear understanding of where we are going to apply AI or test with AI, knowing where it has its limitations, knowing where there’s a human strength and how we are going to augment AI to bridge the gap. I think that clarity of vision, because that gives directionality, that gives comfort, a lot of things that goes with it. I think trust is important. Trust both in between in that relationship, but also what AI can or cannot do and how do we trust what comes out of AI. So the notions around explainable AI, augmented intelligence, ethics, the narrow application to minimize hallucination, et cetera, to build trust. I think those are important. I think talent transformation and building a learning organization is important because AI is not just, it’s new, it’s changing very rapidly.

So continuously skilling of people, teaching them, training them how to use AI effectively and doing that continuously over and over, I think is important. I always think that, especially in technology, it’s always about people, process and technology. In this case, if technology is given, I think the people and process are the other two elements. So change management around process and change management around people are equally important because if you don’t change, manage people, then this risk and concern comes in. So I think it has to all go together in my view.

Tom Stoneman:

I mean, I know it’s important just working at Digitate that you spend a lot of time, I think, making sure that people work towards their passions, right? Right. That they are doing something they like to do. Do you see your approach to that changing at all with AI coming so quickly and just changing things so rapidly?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Not really. I think there are two other things that I attach to passion. I think I always feel that as the conviction brings passion, I think it leads into if you strongly believe into something, it’s very easy to feel passionate about. And conviction and passion together brings intensity, which is required to succeed. So I think it’s very easy to get passionate about AI in my area. It’s very easy to get convinced about it because I think there’s so much that’s going on and there’s so much … I think it’s probably one technology that I have not heard at any level, whether it’s a home with kids, with my wife, or whether it’s work, or whether it’s board. I think whether it’s an IT executive or a chairman of a company, everybody believes in it and we can easily see why. So I think it’s very easy to get excited about it and it’s very easy to apply.

Tom Stoneman:

Yeah. I think there’s that gap, right? I was listening to a podcast yesterday and they were talking about that this person’s opinion was that there wasn’t anything close to this except for when automobiles got rid of horse and buggies. And everybody was freaking out then too, that well, what am I going to do? I only know how to build these horse and buggies. I only know how to drive these things. But then as we all know, new jobs got created very quickly. I mean, this all happened within just a few years, right?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Right.

Tom Stoneman:

And so do you feel that’s kind of the same thing that’s going to happen here?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I think it’s more than that in my view. I mean, you took a great example, right? I think when steam engines happened, we were only talking about how to produce better in factories and maybe shale across the ocean, and automobiles allowed that probably to do that. I think it’s your internal combustible engines and what we can do on the road. And the next version of jet engines with solid fuels, you could probably go outside the planet. And so I think the devolution is the humans are good at constantly pushing the boundaries and exploring. But in my view, AI is kind of … I remember this many years ago listening to Andrew Wing and he said that AI is the new electricity. I think it’s, in my view, it’s a lot more pervasive. It touches pretty much everybody’s life in some way or the other, much more so than automobiles did.

Tom Stoneman:

Yeah. You have often said that one significant challenge with AI is understanding its true value.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Right.

Tom Stoneman:

Do you see that as the primary challenge with current enterprise automation and how could that be solved?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Yeah, I think the enterprise, talking about enterprise automation, I think the bigger challenges is the silos that exist. And automation historically had been, I think without intelligence, it has been more like a conveyor belt principle based. So it’s more task-based and narrow. And so it doesn’t give you the benefit that you need tools don’t talk to each other. And the moment we start thinking about context, then the notion of intelligence and AI comes into play. You apply context to a situation, you get better sense of, you can provide actionable insights, and that allows you to be much more holistic in your approach towards automation. So if you want to create an integrated platform and focus on end-to-end process rather than isolated task, or if you want to go, let’s say, what we see in operations world, ticket-less, for example, then the role of AI becomes that much more bigger.

And that’s something that we focus on as a company. That’s where we are putting our energy to build products and services to push what we call the autonomous enterprise journey, because in our view, the world autonomous and enterprise both are important, but autonomous is automation with intelligence. It’s more about eliminating something first and then automating and optimizing and enterprise is about how do you make an impact, which is enterprise wide. So in my view, I think whenever we need to think about it, enterprise is about thinking end to end and automation without intelligence would never get you to autonomous. I think we’ll always be reacting to something waiting for tickets. And then that to me is not intelligent. Intelligence is predicting something and avoiding it from breaking, and AI has a huge role to play.

Tom Stoneman:

Akhilesh makes the distinction between automation and intelligent automation. Let’s unpack that a little bit. Traditional enterprise automation has often been narrow, reactive, and somewhat disconnected. Think of it like a conveyor belt of isolated tasks, but AI systems today can use context and insight to deliver informed decisions. That’s intelligence. And when you add intelligence, that’s when systems can start to predict problems, not just respond to them. And if the goal is to build something that works across the enterprise, not just in silos, then this kind of intelligence is absolutely essential. Of course, working with systems that operate at this level takes head space. Akhilesh says one of his favorite ways to take a break and reset is a quick game of ping pong.

Can you, Akhilesh, talk me through how ping pong helps you work through daily problem solving, if it does, or do you just do it to just enjoy it and have fun?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I enjoy it. It’s probably one of the fastest games, right? It requires very high reflexes. And yet you’re just around the table. It doesn’t feel physically as excruciating, even though there’s a lot of dynamic flow. And I always draw a parallel to brain. There’s a lot going on in your head, but from the outside, it’s not visible what’s going on. And so I always think that to calm the mind, it’s a good game to play because of the pace and I think the reflexes that is needed. You get distracted very quickly and you don’t feel exhausted at the end of it either. So leaves you with enough energy, play a game, get out and just reset. So I kind of like it and I can play for hours if I have to. But in the office mostly, if I need to take a break, go ahead, play with somebody, finish a game, come back.

Tom Stoneman:

So I think I should probably take some time and find somebody in the office to teach me. I mean, the table’s right behind me. I don’t have any excuse, right?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

But don’t you find it, I mean, we are so close to you. I think that just the sound of it is meditating. It’s like meditating. It’s a very soft, the call of the table, no?

Tom Stoneman:

I don’t know if I agree entirely.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I find it very soothing actually.

Tom Stoneman:

I put my earbuds in.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Yeah. So you have to like the game, I guess, but I find it very soothing.

Tom Stoneman:

What’s one thing that you’ve learned either about technology or people or in general that you think more enterprise leaders should understand, and particularly as it pertains to company culture and maybe nurturing employees?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Technology doesn’t drive transformation, people do. Technology enables you to accelerate it, achieve the results, drive consistency, et cetera. So I always feel that, I think what problem we are trying to solve, prioritizing change management and building a culture alongside this whole tech adoption kind of has to go together. And quite often people think about, oh, I bring this technology, it will do the XYZ to me. I think it’s always the other, this is what I’m trying to achieve, what technology can help me get there faster, better. And in the context of my enterprise, my people, my team, I think it’s probably the right way to think in my view.

Tom Stoneman:

So just to go a little bit further on that, who do you think will drive the future of AI in enterprises?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

It’s everyone actually. So given the pervasive nature of technology and the power it holds, I think in my view, everyone has to take that sense of ownership, that what is it that I can do with it to push the boundaries? Everybody would be a technologist in some sense. And I think the more we get into the zone of what I call using AI as an operating system, then everybody thinks like that and the application comes to everybody’s mind and everybody applies in their own domain, the way they seem fit. What would that look like? How would that relationship change? I think that’s still evolving. It’s too early to say, but it’s very clear to me that it’s not technology for one group or one function in any enterprise.

Tom Stoneman:

So Akhilesh, as someone who, I mean, you’re right at the forefront of AI. Is there any part in your life where you’d prefer a more human touch over AI or even a part of your life where you think it should be AI free?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Yeah. I think anything that is human or humane, I would think. So empathy, how you feel. And I think when I’m with my dog, I don’t want AI around. I don’t want an AI pet, for example. That’s me. Social connections, I still feel it’s more personal. I still think that I get to know a lot by just making an eye contact and shaking hands than being virtual vacation. I mean, of course I would love to use, I do use AI for planning, but when I’m there, I don’t want any AI around me. I want to soak the nature the way in its purest form, spirituality, meditation. So I mean, these are things which are very innate who we are. And I think I haven’t seen anything which has changed my mind to bring AI in it.

Tom Stoneman:

I agree with all of that. This last thing I’m going to ask you is actually your question, and we’ve kind of coined it as a question we ask everybody on the podcast so far. Can you think of something or anything that has not been done before that AI will allow us to do? Something that no one could have imagined?

Akhilesh Tripathi:

I don’t think we have touched the first principles yet. What I mean by that is that a lot of things that we are currently thinking are imagining with AI are current problems and current way of doing things and we’re thinking how AI can do it better or faster. If you go back in history, when internet happened, everybody wanted to put their website up and then certain company called Amazon came along and we said, “Oh, E-commerce is possible.” And we realized E-commerce was possible only because there was internet and of course many applications followed. Similarly, when the apps came in, and I think everybody was trying to put information or making the web information available because of the ubiquitous nature of the phone at your fingertips, but gig economy completely changed. It was only possible with smartphones in your hand. In my view, I think what is that application with AI.

We’re still not there. At least, I mean, of course, some aspects in tech, like live coding, et cetera, is quite interesting. But if you look at from the broader business perspective, what does that look like? We’re not there yet. So that’s the state we are in. But I do think that a lot of things AI can help solve even today probably I would throw all of manmade problems at AI. So for example, I would try to see if I can solve my traffic problem or can it solve the climate problem or can I solve the next pandemic problem and create a cure before anything happens because it can forecast and do something.

But yeah, I think the first principle of what is possible only with AI and would not have been possible any other way. I would love to imagine that and see if you can do something with it, but I don’t think we’re there yet. So that would be truly transformative and extremely powerful in my view. And that will also eliminate a lot of this fear about human versus people because that will create its own ecosystem and jobs of new kinds, et cetera, which we haven’t seen yet.

Tom Stoneman:

Yeah. I think this upcoming year is going to be amazing. We were talking in one of the previous ones here about the changes happening in the music industry where you’ve seen there’s bands out there now that people didn’t know they were AI, but they love them, right? I mean, they actually like them and it doesn’t bother people so much once they get used to the fact that … So I think that’s just the beginning. I think when artists start to interact with this, I can just see some incredible things happening.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Yeah. No, and I think also as humans, we have shown enormous resilience and appetite to embrace change. I think my kids, if I tell them that there was no internet when we were growing up, they just can’t believe it. I think the kids who were born after smartphone is the same. And I think the same would happen with AI. I think it will be such a natural part of life that they’ll build upon it.

Tom Stoneman:

This has been a great episode. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us and we will hopefully have you back again very soon.

Akhilesh Tripathi:

Thank you, Tom. I look forward to it.

Tom Stoneman:

One of the things that stood out to me from this conversation is the idea of first principles. For now, most of what we’re doing with AI is focused on improving what already exists, faster processes, better outputs, and more efficiency, and there’s value in that. But Akhilesh says that real transformation will happen when we stop asking what AI can do for our current systems and start imagining what can be done only because of AI. That’s where we will see the next generation of enterprise value. And remember, technology doesn’t drive transformation. AI might be the catalyst, but it is people who will decide where we go next. So take care of yourself and take care of your team. Maybe start by grabbing a quick game of ping pong.

Thank you for listening to The Intelligent Enterprise, a podcast where we get inside big ideas by getting outside of them. I’ve been your host, Tom Stoneman. Please remember to follow the podcast and leave a comment or review wherever you get your shows. See you next time.