Empowering AI, Executive conversations, Interviews

COVID as a Means to Accelerate Industry 4.0: A Conversation with Enrico D’angelo

Lorenzo Meriggi / July 13, 2020

In continuation of Querlo’s interview series, Francesco Rulli, Global CEO of Querlo, recently spoke with Enrico D’angelo, Business Transformation Senior Advisor at SAP Oil and Gas, about the challenges that COVID has created, the opportunities that may arise in the post-COVID era, and the role of Artificial Intelligence in the future.

SAP is a multinational corporation that creates enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. They work with companies of all different sizes with the goal of both helping the world run better and improving people’s lives. Enrico’s responsibility is to help modernize oil and gas production and distribution processes. 

Enrico began by answering Francesco’s questions about the challenges and opportunities that emerged from COVID-19. While many difficulties arose in the transition to working remotely, especially for blue collar workers, this new era has led to an accelerated digital transformation. Smart working used to be thought of as a partial vacation from work where employees would be at home with their families while still doing their job. However, companies are now starting to understand the benefits of having fewer people in offices and instead having people work from home. Not only will this save everyone money, but also a majority of people have said that they prefer working remotely because it allows them to spend more time with their family and they don’t have to spend time commuting. Enrico also noted that in Italy, there are many new job positions being created because people can now work from anywhere. 

Enrico believes Artificial Intelligence will become even more important in the future. Within SAP, it can be used in the human resources department, for smart working, the call center, and to accelerate Industry 4.0. With COVID-19 preventing people from traveling to different companies, this new digital era allows technicians and other workers to stay connected to industries and still continue their jobs remotely. Additionally, this pandemic has demonstrated the need for companies to be prepared for another situation like this and increasing the use of technology and AI is the only way to do that. Enrico ended by noting that he sees a lot of opportunities in the near future to help advance the industrial revolution. 

To learn more about SAP and the work they do, you can contact Enrico through LinkedIN.