Challenges and Opportunities of the Logistics Industry, with Chintan Patel

Show Notes

In this episode, Keith is joined by Chintan Patel, Chief Information Officer at National DCP, a supply chain management company serving the franchisees of Dunkin'. Chintan delves into the hurdles and opportunities she encounters in the logistics industry, highlighting the role of technology in overcoming these obstacles.

Conversation Highlights:
[00:41] Introducing our guest, Chintan Patel
[02:16] High level challenges in the logistics industry
[04:02] Technologies making an impact
[07:35] Discussing remote labor opportunities
[13:20] Artificial Intelligence and Operations
[23:18] Lessons learned in digital transformation
[32:06] Understanding your target audience
[35:41] Chintan's message to IT leaders

Notable Quotes:
"At the end of the day, technology is a data journey from A to B, and how efficiently you get there." Chintan Patel [19:59]

"Don't forget to sell for yourself, you've got to be your own marketing champion." Chintan Patel [36:15]

Connect With Chintan Patel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chintan-patel-atlanta/

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Narrator: Welcome to the IT
Matters podcast, where we

explore why IT matters and
matters pertaining to IT.

Keith Hawkey: Welcome, everyone
to the IT Matters podcast where

we talk to IT leaders that are
making an impact. I'm your host,

Keith Hawkey. Aaron is out sick
today, so I think I'll be able

to handle the conversation with
a very special guest we have. We

have the pleasure of speaking to
a digital transformation savant

of the logistics industry.

Chintan Patel is the current CIO
of National DCP. Chintan,

welcome to the IT Matters
podcast. How are you doing?

Chintan Patel: Doing well, thank
you, thank you for inviting me

over, I'm excited to be here.

Keith Hawkey: It has been a busy
week in the tech industry. I

know you've had a lot of stuff
going on. What have you been up

to lately.

Chintan Patel: From our
perspective, it's always you

keeping your eyes and ears open
for you know, what's what's new,

what's next. But also from a
security perspective, you're

always keeping your eyes and
ears open, because that can come

and you know, really upset
things in a matter of seconds.

So always keep my eyes and ears
open for those kinds of things,

things and events.

Keith Hawkey: Cybercriminals
never sleep, that's for sure. We

are all very grateful for the
job that you do. And, you know,

we'll get into a little bit a
little bit of that today, the

logistics industry has a number
of challenges besetting it here

in 2024. A lot of the a lot of
these actually are, you know, I

know that National DCP deals
mostly with the truck loads that

are on the road. But we have
international news of whether

it's a war or a conflict of
trade routes being cut out

because of international
struggle. So it's certainly top

of mind for most people that are
not even associated with the

logistics industry. One of your
largest customers today, that

you service is Dunkin Donuts.

That's where you've been able to
deliver a tremendous value. What

are some of the like the high
level challenges that are

presenting the logistics
industry today, particularly

when it comes to truckload and
what you're doing?

Chintan Patel: The margin of
error for us is very low, right?

To get your hot cup of coffee at
Dunkin at 6am. You know, we have

to make sure that we get that
truckload of you know, of fresh

produce and everything along
with it at a certain hour and

that margin of error is very
low. External factors are always

you know, something that we are
battling with in terms of

whether it's a weather event, or
it is you know, international

events that could impact our
supply, there's always these

external factors that you know
are going to come in the way and

we plan ahead for that right and
knowing that these kinds of

things can come we are you know,
hedging against these kinds of

things, external events, we're
trying to, you know, get our

supply locked down for a you
know, period at a time so that

we know that we can survive
these kinds of ups and downs

that might be coming along the
way. The biggest thing for us is

making sure we know there's a
very slim margin for error and

making sure we're over prepared
to compensate for an event like

this, which we know would would
come along the way.

Keith Hawkey: Piggy-backing off
what you said, it certainly

takes a dedicated team from a
business leadership standpoint

and also from a technology
standpoint, I mean, your your

team and the back end technology
that delivers that cup of coffee

that Dunkin Donuts wants to
create. It's no small task and

one thing I'd like to highlight
is National DCP won Dunkin

brand's partner of the year,
three times over the last

decade. There are more than
13,200 Dunkin stores in over

4440 markets. You know you
leading the technological

innovation at National DCP, what
technologies have made the most

impact for your organization to
have the accolade of winning

Partner of the Year at one of
the world's most trusted brands.

Chintan Patel: That's a great
question because Dunkin indeed

is America's you know, beloved
brand. And while we all know

that America runs on Dunkin, not
many people know that Dunkin

runs on National DCP. So, to
serve a brand like Dunkin at

scale, innovation is built into
our culture right? Every day

we're looking at ways to serve
our franchisees more

efficiently, providing world
class service at a sustainable

cost. And the way we do that at
scale is to lean on to

technology systems at every step
of the process, right, whether

it's from cleaning, procuring,
payments and receipts, selling

and delivery. Technology is
built into every single aspect

of that process and you know,
all the way through our back

offices as well as our nine
distribution centers, we're

constantly exploring and
piloting new technology that can

really help us with operational
efficiencies in the warehouses.

For example, drones is, you
know, something that we're

piloting right now, it really
helps us kind of, you know, the

drone will fly through the
aisles and do a cycle hound on

the fly. Quite literally, in
this case, if we have to do that

manually, you know, it takes us
it's an arduous, time consuming

process and the accuracy might
not be to, you know, the degree

with which we can get it from a
drone. So there's lots of

different technologies that
we're piloting and trying to see

if this makes a good use case
and there's synergies with what

we're doing on a day to day
basis. Another example is, you

know, we're looking at automated
palette jack systems that allow

remote operation of a palette
jack without ever stepping foot

into the warehouse. This really
helps us mitigate some of the

labor challenges that we've seen
over the past since COVID has

hit. We're looking at technology
that truly can make a

difference, top level, bottom
level efficiencies, or new ways

of, you know, expediting things,
that's that route, but all

around you, technology is at the
core of us serving our

customers.

Keith Hawkey: You make some
great points, particularly

around the labor shortage
occurring in the logistics

industry, among others, it
doesn't take long for you to be

driving on the highway and to
look at the back of a truck.

Basically all the logistics
companies are making their pitch

to join their company, in
banners on the back of their dry

vans, like hey, looking for a
job, come join blank company.

It's definitely no secret that
there's a shortage in the

industry and innovating in a way
to reach the young, more

millennial, I use, I'm a
millennial. Millennials used to

be young at one point. I guess,
we're, we have children now and

where we have a little bit more
decision making power when it

comes to the business but the
young, younger generation, you

know, gamifying, the workplace
allowing I mean, it's, it is a

tall feat, to be able to pull
off remote working when you're

in a warehouse. And you
mentioned drones being a part of

this. Yeah, you mentioned the
ability for a remote worker to

be in their living room doing
their work, while controlling a

effectively a drone or robot,
that's there in person in a

manufacturing plant. I can
definitely see how that impacts

the labor market. You're able to
access a pool of talent that

normally wouldn't be available
to many manufacturing,

logistics, that work hand in
hand. Can you talk a little bit

more about that program? What
what what gave you the idea that

this was a labor opportunity?

Chintan Patel: We're constantly
looking and going to conferences

and you know, different areas
where we can understand what's

new in the market? Right? And
how does it impact our business

directly? There's, you know,
there's a lot of different

robotic solutions that are out
there, but not everything is a

good fit for us. So we'll we'll
pilot it and see it and say,

Hey, does it make good sense,
business sense? Sometimes yes,

sometimes no. So we're
constantly on this journey of

trying to find the right fit.

where it makes sense from a from
a numbers perspective, as well

as efficiencies perspective.

This one in particular, you
know, with COVID coming in,

everyone's kind of definition of
the work ethic, if you will, or

you know, work life balance has
has changed dramatically right,

sometimes for the better,
sometimes, you can argue against

it. Typically, if you see how a
warehouse is built, it's gonna

be in an area where there's
gonna be multiple warehouses

around it. And there's always a,
you know, pool of talent that

they're going after, where if
someone else next door is

paying, you know, $2 $3 more,
they're gonna jump ship. There's

not a whole lot of loyalty
associated with a warehouse

employee, unfortunately. So for
us, it was important to kind of

come up with a way to use
technology to differentiate

ourselves and kind of mitigate
some of those challenges. And

using a remote palette operating
system really helped us kind of

target, hey, while we're not now
limited to the pool that's

within that vicinity, we're also
can tap into, you know,

disability or veterans who might
be able to then you know, have

solid work ethic that we can tap
into them to kind of get into

our warehouses without literally
getting them into our warehouses

and still being able to get our
work done. So that's really

where this idea came from, is
hey, this can be a really great

match, given some of the
challenges we're facing and

technology is right at the
forefront in helping solve that

challenge.

Keith Hawkey: From a security
perspective, IoT is an avenue

for malicious cyber criminals to
access networks and access the

marketplace or access a
company's sensitive information.

How do you think about security
when you're, I mean, you have

your your talent, that's working
remote, they're accessing a, you

know, they have control over a
drone or a machine that they

could certainly cause havoc if
it's not properly managed and

there aren't guardrails and
thresholds and from a

cybersecurity perspective
isolated to just that employee,

what kind of security challenges
open up when, you know,

understand, understandably, a
lot of companies since COVID,

had moved to remote work. The
risk factor of a remote worker

is generally pretty low for what
you might consider a knowledge

worker that's working on the
computer, that's building Excel

files or making calls. When it
comes to managing heavy heavy

machinery, heavy equipment and
manufacturing or a warehouse

space, that opens a whole new
level of risk to the

organization. How does a company
like National DCP continue with

that level of risk? What are
your thoughts on that?

Chintan Patel: With COVID, the
mobile workforce, you know, it's

all remote, right? Your your
workforce is really it's mobile,

in our case, it is mobile,
because, you know, along with

our workers in the warehouse, we
also have drivers on the trucks

that are on the road at all
times. And we have, you know,

software on the trucks, IoT
devices on the trucks. So we

have to, you know, have a
comprehensive strategy on how

we're securing all of this when
our assets are all over the

place, right, they're not within
a warehouse, necessarily, or

within a office, they truly are
all over and sometimes just on

the go. So we build our
fortification around it, right,

every single asset is monitored
and we have a view of it at all

times. We have also, what we
also try to do is for you know,

every remote worker, obviously,
we are having VPN tunnels so

that they are coming in securely
into our systems. Outside of

security, the other thing also
that I think is good to touch

upon is with these kinds of
remote operations, safety is

another critical aspect that we
look at, because these big

devices are being manned, you
know, off the off site, and you

want to be really vigilant
around safety as well. So AI

comes, you know, quite handy in
that where these remote systems,

the more they use the certain
routes that are charted out for

them, they are learning those
paths and are learning you know,

when there's things coming in
front of them, or how to stop

and things like that. So there's
a lot of you know, work that's

going behind making sure we're
comfortable before we launched

this wide across the network.

But but that's the beauty of,
you know, technologies that you

can test and pilot and you know,
use AI to learn until you feel

comfortable that it's ready for
primetime.

Keith Hawkey: That's an
excellent segue into how

generative AI and artificial
intelligence in in general, has

impacted every industry and
every category in every business

from the smallest all the way up
to your largest enterprises. We

talked a little bit about how AI
is making an impact when it

comes to the drones you're
deploying. How else are you

seeing artificial intelligence
impact your business, the way

your team operates, and how does
National DCP take the most

advantage of some of these more
recent innovations in the space?

Chintan Patel: AI has certainly
been a top of mind for us, has

gained, you know, momentum at a
global level over the past year.

And as with any new technology,
we're always looking at ways and

use cases that make sense for us
and find those synergies. For

us, you know, Transportation
Management has been a big area

that we're looking at and
piloting where we can optimize

our routes. So, you know, it
helps us say there's an external

event, a weather event, then it
can quickly help us optimize our

routes and say, Hey, what how
can we reroute our routes so

that we're still staying within
our SLAs etc. It also helps us,

you know, look at our master
routes on a more frequent basis.

Typically, that's again, a
manual process happening every

month. With AI, we're able to
revisit that much more

frequently to say, Hey, how can
we reuse this capacity that we

have within our routes? Or if
there's empty routes coming

back, how can we reroute them to
be able to take full advantage

of the capacity at you know,
going in inbound, outbound, etc.

So it really is there are some
synergies that we're finding

there that impact the bottom
line for sure. From in terms of

how our teams are working, you
know, we're we are being a bit

you know, I think the right word
is optimistically cautious,

because you know, there is the
concern of, you know, security

and privacy, that are coming up
with these new AI tools that are

in the market. So, you know, we
do put in policies, AI policies,

around the tools that you can
use and educating our teams

around the, you know, the some
of the privacy concerns or the

security concerns that come
along with the technology that's

kind of in its infancy in
reality, right. Despite its

meteoric rise, it still is in
its infancy. There are you know,

it is in it's hype cycle, it's
going to come down and it's

gonna, you know, have to learn
from the mistakes it's making,

and then it's going to get ready
for primetime. So we're kind of

in that same phases, where we're
seeing a direct impact, we are,

you know, going after those use
cases, and then in certain

areas, you know, we're educating
our teams, our employees and

kind of waiting in, in some
cases to let the dust settle,

and then take take advantage of
it. So that's, that's kind of

our position optimistically
cautious from an AI perspective.

Keith Hawkey: I think you're
prudent to take that

perspective. I work with a, I
work with countless IT leaders

and they're split, you know,
half of them are driving full

throttle into building some kind
of chatbot, or some large

language model trained on their
data. Others are hosting, others

will use Chat GBT, they'll
they'll put an Excel document up

into a, you know, in Chat GPT
and ask it to draw analytics.

And then others are much more
cautious, like, like you are,

that would like to watch the
others potentially fail and then

learn from their mistakes, and
then come out with a more mature

framework to deploy it. You
mentioned route optimization,

where else do you see AI landing
in the most immediate future in

the logistics industry?

Chintan Patel: From a logistics
perspective, and from running

the entire business, there's use
cases across the board, right,

there's use cases from an HR
perspective onboarding, you

know, new employees, offboarding
employees, there's ways to make

things more efficient. There's
use of AI, you know, from

financials and ERP side of
things, how can we close our,

you know, monthly financials
faster? If we're taking three

days how can we cut it down to
two days, there's use cases from

a security perspective, how can
we use AI for, you know, five,

fraud prevention, so there's a,
you know, multiple areas within

the business where we can take
advantage of, of AI. From a

logistics perspective, you know,
specifically, like I said, we're

we're looking at from Route
Optimization. But there's also,

like I had mentioned earlier,
there's ways where we can use

robotics, she started learning
more than, you know, be more

intelligent than what it truly
does today is, you know, felt

you're you programmed it to do
certain things, now you're

adding that layer of
intelligence on top of it, which

really gives you that power that
we didn't have before. So that's

an area where we're seeing that
could potentially you know, as

as things iron out a bit, we're
gonna see a lot of efficiencies

and where we're, we're thinking
the future is, in our industry,

for sure. Is that intelligence
being baked into some of the

automation or robotics that that
is already out there.

Keith Hawkey: That brings me to
another question that I have

Chintan. Switching gears
entirely. Let's say you're a

newly hired CIO, by a global
logistics company with hundreds

of warehouses across the globe,
you have international clients,

you have IoT to worry about you
have security you're worried

about, your personality, and you
know, you're trying to embed

your team and various
departments to learn how to best

serve the needs of the business
leaders across the board. What

advice would you give a newly
hired CIO of a logistics company

that had no experience in the
logistics industry? What would

you tell them in order to wrap
their mind around the task they

just signed up for?

Chintan Patel: I think the
beauty of technology is that you

can apply your learnings to
almost any problem regardless of

the industrial verticals. That's
also what keeps it interesting

because it keeps you on your
toes and you're constantly

learning you know, industries
and verticals. I believe

Logistics is no different from
you know, freight sale or

software or banking, your
business processes you know, no

matter what vertical you are in,
they start at A and they end at

Z and along the way you're using
technology to automate that

process or gain efficiencies or
get data insights that can help

you grow your business or use
that technology to better your

customer experience. And at the
end of the day, you know,

technology is, in my mind, it's
a data journey from A to B, and

how efficiently you get there.

And, you know, does that data
help you build a forward looking

strategy because you're able to,
you know, mine that data or use

AI to, you know, build models
around at the end of the day,

you're using technology to kind
of look into the future while

optimizing, you know, what
you're doing today. And that's

how you how you grow your
business. So I mean, the one

thing if I had to say, to
someone coming new into this

industry is the knowledge from a
technology perspective is very

transferable. But don't forget
the human element. You know,

when you walk into the
warehouse, that energy and the

human element is completely
different. It's a 24 by seven

massive operations. And if you
if you don't understand the ins

and outs, stuff, you know, how
you know how the clock works,

how things are ticking, when
you're in that, you know, all

this, you know, 1000s of SKUs
coming in, and you're slotting

them, and they're going, you
know, there's 50, 60, different

systems from a technology
perspective, that have to work

in tandem, for all of that
product to come from, you know,

point it to be sourced, and come
and deliver into inbound into

your warehouses, to be slotted,
and then picked, bagged, and

ready, and optimized to be sent
on to that truck that's going to

that Dunkin that's taking in
that product and making your

coffee the next morning. So
there's tons of technologies

that work in tandem to make that
happen. And there's a lot of

human element to that where
things can fall through the

cracks, if you don't understand
what goes behind making that

technology work, when there's so
many hands being exchanged to

get from point A to point B. So
that can be a blind spot that I

would say, you know, for anyone
coming new, visit the

warehouses, do a day in life of
a warehouse worker, whether it

is inbound, you know, receiving
or outbound pick back and

getting those products on a
truck, get on a truck and work

with your driver to see how they
make stops and how they're

unloading there. You know, it's
just understanding that that

human element sign of it, I
think, is the biggest thing I

would say coming in for someone
new, make sure you understand

that so you understand your, you
know, you understand the pain

points at every level, because
that's the way you understand

how you can use technology to
truly make a difference is if

you understand the pain points
on the day to day processes of

what of the humans that are
using your technology.

Keith Hawkey: Yeah. Because how
else are you going to make their

lives easier unless you
understand their day to day. And

then and the struggles they deal
with and the fore sight into if

we do engage in a project, let's
say I'm just spitballing here,

but building an application that
might serve some of your some of

your clients that they're very
used to a certain way of doing

things and very used to a
certain manner of doing

business. It reminds me of a
story that you told me before

about, yeah, an adventure into
developing a new application. I

think this is a part from where
you are today as as far as far

as your employment. But what are
some of the lessons that you've

learned in digital
transformation? I think this

particular project had to do
with developing an application

that your clients would use, or
your stores would use to procure

orders and to to engage with
their customer base and some of

the expectations in the near
term, we're not net as as

tightly as as expected. Can you
share that story that he shared

with me before

Chintan Patel: Any leader right
in your professional journey,

you're gonna have some of those
data misfires, and you fully go

back and think, you know, my
career would have been in a

completely different trajectory,
if I never kind of saw those

kinds of failures. And I truly
believe this is one of those

right? Where I, I completely had
a different approach to

technology going forward.

Because of, you know, kind of
the, I wouldn't call it a

misfire in my mind, I think I
like to call it a pivot

opportunity.

Keith Hawkey: That's right.

Chintan Patel: In my previous
life, and I was brought in to

launch an e-commerce business,
we went through the rounds of

you know, talking to customers
understanding what we wanted to

build for them. We were very
clear, we thought we need an

e-commerce business. It's a
great opportunity and new sales

channel. This is this is going
to be great. So we start by, you

know, going through the rounds
of defining requirements,

selecting a technology partner
implementation partner, and then

we go through the actual
implementation wanting a new

e-commerce business. On time, in
budget, we start throwing a

great, you know, successful
Launch Party and and we're

waiting for the money to start
rolling in. And we wait a month,

and we wait two months and three
months, and there's no change. I

mean, we're barely getting any
traffic to our website, hardly

any orders coming in, like in
our mind, this was such a great

tool we're giving our customers.

They don't have to walk into the
store and wait in line for 20

minutes to place their order.

Like who wouldn't use this time
saving tool? In my mind? It's

like it's a slam dunk, this is a
greatest thing that we've you

know, given to you guys, and
you're not using it. And then,

we took a step back and and
started thinking, well, we can

see all these, you know, great
benefits, but we haven't really

kind of sat down with them and
understand like, what's in it

for them? Or we haven't really
kind of could put ourselves in

their position and thinking,
yes, there's this new tool, but

there's a million different apps
that they have on their phone,

why? Why should they truly get
another app from our side and

use it. And that's when we said
okay, let's watch our customers.

So rather than you know going
and talking to them, where they

may not be that open with us on
why they're not using it, we

just decided to kind of get our
teams into our stores and watch

these, watch our customers. And
what we found was our customers

are coming in and you know,
getting a cup of coffee and

peacefully waiting in line till
they're able to talk to their

sales agent. So truly, they're
what we were thinking was it's a

waste of billable hours for them
waiting in line for 20, 25

minutes, in their mind that was
the highlight of their day.

They're coming into our store,
getting a coffee, waiting in

line, chit chatting, and then
going to, you know, their sales

associate, and asking them all
sorts of questions about how to

run their business. So it was a
landscaping business that that I

was at and our customers were
waiting for you to getting tip

the tips on how should I run,
how should I clear up a soccer

field with chemicals if it's
going to rain the next day? Or

what should I use to treat you
know, this kind of grass or that

kind of weed? There's all these
different questions. What they

were truly coming in for was
this intel that our website was

not providing at all. Our
website was simply giving them

the ability to order products.

But what we were missing is that
they needed to know what kind of

products, so there was a whole
learning element that was

happening in our stores, which
we were not providing online. So

that was the aha moment for us
was, it's not about what you

think is the benefit to the
customer. It's about what truly

the customer might not even know
that this is why they're coming

to you. Until you know you you
kind of observe them and then

you think, Okay, this is what's
missing for us,it's not a way to

transact. So that relationship
that they have with their sales

associate is truly what's
bringing them and that's that's

our secret sauce. And we're not
translating that on that app. So

that was the aha moment for me
and and our team to go back and

saying, Hey, let's Is there a
way to build this out where we

can you know, provide that
experience right? The knowledge

base that tells them exactly
what to do, how to treat their

lawn, how to care for fields,
how to do if it's rainy. So we

started it before going with the
customer directly we started

going to the to the sales rep
and saying hey, what exactly

what data are you, knowledge are
imparting them that we can help

build on our application. And
then when we do this, this is

going to help free up your time
so you can actually use your

time to upsell to the customers
increasing your book of business

and you're the ones who are
going to sort of start marketing

this tool. When it comes from
you, there's that trust that the

customer already has with you
and then they see the value of

using this app. So it's a win
win it, you know, reduces time

spent on your end so you can
increase the book of business

while it reduces the time for
the customer as well. They can

do all of this work, you know at
at night after the kids are in

bed. So they're it was a win win
at that point. So I think that

mentality when you go out and
you're gung ho about solving a

problem, you know, technology
can do this, but not quite

understanding that human
element. What are you targeting,

right? How do you understand
what truly the customer wants

and not what you think they
want, to hone in on that is very

important. And how do you attack
change management, right,

adoption. It's not about you
know, just marketing and

throwing marketing dollars but
it's kind of understanding that

there's a trust factor of who it
comes from, how it comes from,

how you tell them what the
benefits are. And that's when

the adoption truly starts. So
after that, I think before I

start any project, for me, the
biggest lesson is, you know, who

is our target audience? What are
they going to get out of this?

Is that truly a pain point? And
how, who are they going to trust

if we try to solve it for them
to get it in front of them? And

the change management adoption
is is critical before you know

in building that into your
project plan, your ROI is is

critical before you start any
project. So lesson learned,

pivot opportunity, and able to,
you know, move past it. But

definitely an important lesson.

Keith Hawkey: I really
appreciate you sharing that

story Chintan, it, it reminds me
of the generational gaps in

terms of the willingness to
adopt new technologies. I'm not

sure how old you are. But I
remember the days where I used

to chat on AOL Instant
Messenger. And you know, that

was brand new at the time we we
could actually communicate with

our friends via a computer and
talk about our anxieties in high

school and everything we were
we're dealing with at the time

and, you know, planning planning
a trip, I was actually I was

talking, I was speaking to a
friend the other day about, you

know, we used to communicate
through like AOL, we didn't have

phones at the time. And we'd
say, Okay, do you what we're

gonna meet here, we're gonna
meet at this time, we're going

to the movie theater. And then
if you didn't comprehend, or

really understand what the
directions were, you would

arrive somewhere, no one would
be there and you couldn't

communicate with anyone.

Chintan Patel: I remember those
days.

Keith Hawkey: And now and now it
seems like we have so many fail

safes of having this device in
our pocket to resource

information. And before my time,
you know, my parents would be

would have to use a corded phone
to communicate with their

counterparts. And then before
that, there's nothing. So

considering your client base,
your client base and the their,

what are they comfortable with?

Where they grew? What kind of
technologies did they grow up

with? I imagine a lot of your
customers dealt with business

transaction transactions, from a
face to face perspective.

There's an underlying level of
trust that they had with their

sales representative, or the
store manager, that was

underpinning the decisions they
were making, as they were

acquiring various fertilizer or
other chemicals they would use

out when they're, when they're
building or on the on the farm.

But if your client base grew up
with AOL, or today, TikTok or

whatever it might be that and
they don't want to talk to

anyone, you know, they're
actually they prefer not to

engage face to face and there's
more, they're less socially

tuned, there's more social
anxiety because they, they

they're able to occupy
themselves alone, much more

effectively, today. They may
prefer an application. They

might say thank goodness, I
don't have to go to the store. I

don't I don't have to go to go
to the bank and make small talk

that I don't want to make, I can
just do my transaction to this

banking app.

Chintan Patel: That's true in
any sector as well. Right, you

have that the target audience,
you know, definitely is

changing. The older generation,
I think there might be a bit

longer to adopt to this
technologies. But I think thanks

to you know, Amazon, and
everyone just being comfortable,

sometimes it goes the, you know,
in the opposite direction, where

everyone expects a Amazon like
experience on your apps, and

you're thinking, Oh my God, it's
the complete opposite. Because,

you know, you don't have the
budgets of the Amazons of the

world where you're going to be
able to have a seamless

experience like Amazon, but that
has become the de facto

expectation, because that's what
they're, you know, what everyone

is seeing outside. So there's
two extremes, right? There's

some where, you know, like you
said, the younger generation

who's it's it, unless you do
business that way, I don't even

want to bother working and doing
business with you, because I'm

so used to running my entire
business on my phone and on the

go, so you have to cater to that
audience. And then there's the

others who are getting used to
it but, you know, in their

personal lives, they're getting
used to it just fine. They don't

quite trust getting used to it
with their professional lives.

So that's where the adoption is
something that you really, truly

have to find a way to gain their
trust to be able to start using

your technology. So it's a
balance that you know, we see

and in our mind, in the Dunkin
side of things, it's a you know,

it's a natural churn, I think
that happens when our

franchisees aging out, and they
might be, you know, handing off

their small business or their
franchises to their to the next

generation. So that generation
is truly coming in and adopting

it much faster. So that natural
churn happens but we know that

we have to stay ahead of the
curve. Because unless we do

that, as we're sitting on, you
know, this this churn happening,

we'll be we'll be left behind.

So in our mind, we all
constantly got to cater to two

types of audiences that we
cannot lose sight of, hey, over

time this churn happens and we
have to cater to them while

trying to find a way to gain the
trust and make sure it's been

adopted up the other side of the
spectrum as well.

Keith Hawkey: One question I
like to ask all the IT leaders

that come on to the the IT
Matters podcast show is if if

you could display a message on
every billboard in the world,

and only IT leaders could see
it, what message would you send

an IT leader that was looking to
stay ahead of the curve? What do

you think is missing? What what
what is being overlooked today?

What do you feel passionate
about? What what would you you

know, in a small message format
that would fit on a on a on a

billboard?

Chintan Patel: Don't forget to
sell for yourself, you've got to

be your own marketing champion.

Sometimes people think of IT as
a back office, and it's just

running things. I think there's
truly transformational abilities

to grow your business, if you're
able to get that alignment with

your leadership, and that comes
from relentlessly, you know,

marketing the work IT does. It's
not a natural tendency for IT

leaders to be able to think in
those terms because we are, you

know, we're at the at the heart
of it, you know, we're

technology people who likes to
get things done. And you know, I

grew up from a programming
background. So I was a developer

and you know, hands to keyboard,
want to get things done. And

then that's your mindset. But I
think it's really important if

you're able to market the work
that you're doing, because

that's how you get alignment.

That's how, you know, the other
leaders in your organization see

the benefit that comes out of
technology to propel their

areas, right. And when you start
gaining that alignment, and

trust from the other leaders at
the board level, that's when you

can truly use technology to
propel you know, the business,

from from where it is today to
being able to, you know, whether

it is from data and analytics
from AI or other areas, you

truly can be a differentiator in
your industry, when you rely on

on technology.

Keith Hawkey: I think you're
exactly right, you know,

marketing the vision, not only
yourself, but but the vision of

of the future is, is it's
certainly a muscle that most IT

professionals in the early in
their career have to develop,

for the most part not not as
natural to a traditional

programmer, or someone who was
technical and, and, but but but

you have to in order to, you
know, be a leader in the

business to move the business
forward in a transformational

fashion, and get visibly get the
board excited about your plans.

And to get their buy in, you're
going to have to learn how to

how to how to market this in a
way that's effective. Chintan I

think this has been an
incredible conversation and I

know our listeners will will
agree. Where can our listeners

find you if they have a question
about one of the topics that you

listed today? Where or how can
you be reached?

Chintan Patel: I am definitely
on LinkedIn. So that's a great

way to reach out. I'm in Atlanta
so feel free to you know, give a

shout out anywhere if you're
nearby, we'd love to at the

national DCP offices, would love
to meet with new people and

learn about their journeys. But
LinkedIn is a great way

otherwise to to get in touch for
sure.

Keith Hawkey: Well I'll make
sure to include your LinkedIn in

the show notes and as always,
thank you for tuning into the IT

Matters podcast and again
Chintan thank you for offering

your insights and taking some
time out of your your day.

Chintan Patel: Really glad to be
here and thanks for the

opportunity and inviting me,
really had a good time. And you

know looking forward to being
able to you know follow through

the podcast and listen to other
leaders.

Keith Hawkey: Well take care
everyone, have a wonderful rest

of your week.

Narrator: Thanks for listening.

The IT Matters podcast is
produced by Opkalla, an IT

advisory firm that helps
businesses navigate the vast and

complex IT marketplace. Learn
more about Opkalla at

opkalla.com.