The role
I was the senior solutions executive across APAC for ABB's Connected Asset Lifecycle Management portfolio, focused particularly on power utilities, public sector and defence.
The portfolio
The conversation could span Ellipse ERP/EAM, asset performance management, investment planning, workforce management, mobility and analytics. That meant the useful discussion was rarely about one product. It was about how the customer's operational environment fitted together.
I was later appointed APAC Solutions Lead after leading a broader digital-transformation approach.
Getting beyond the formal meeting
One of the things I learned working across Asia-Pacific is that useful discovery depends on getting more than the most senior voice into the conversation. In highly hierarchical environments, a formal meeting can hide enormous amounts of operational knowledge.
With Metropolitan Electricity Authority in Thailand, the relationship broadened beyond the original software conversation. Their team became sufficiently invested in ABB's wider capability that they agreed to spend a day in Australia visiting our facilities and exploring what else we could bring to their operating environment.
Why it matters
AI discovery has the same dependency. Executives can define the outcome, but the operational knowledge required to design a useful AI system often lives several levels deeper in the organisation.