Andriy Shyshka

Three months ago I reached the final point of my program. Still a global trainee, I get to spend my last rotation gradually assuming responsibilities of my target position of data scientist at Big Data squad of DSS. In addition, as a side project that lately managed to consume most of my time, I joined a team that works with organizing one of the most important internal conferences we have in the group – an area just as natural to Lisa Barrehag as it was out of my comfort zone. I think that was exactly what People & Organization had in mind when sending me on this quest.

Nonetheless, conferences aside, my main responsibility at the moment is the analysis of IoT data that we gather from our connected products and digital services: Gardena Smart System, Husqvarna Fleet Services and Automower Connect. I believe that each of these solutions constitute a compelling offer to our customers, unmatched by anything our competitors have in stock. I also share the vision with my colleagues that there is even greater value to be unlocked from our ability to measure exactly how our products are being used and how they are performing in the field. If we ask the right questions, this data can help us make better design decisions when developing new products, we can be much better in anticipating customer demand and act proactively addressing our clients’ needs  before they get a chance to articulate them.

Our connected products and digital services: Gardena Smart System, Husqvarna Fleet Services and Automower Connect.

I would like to say that we are the first to realize the potential, but that would simply not be true. Look in your pocket and you will find the most recent example of how data analysis done right can accelerate the progress. Yes, I mean your smartphone. The statistics about each action that you take, each button press, each application crash or unused feature is being collected by the manufacturer (unless you happen to be German and simply don’t share your data). This is why just in a few years we made a giant leap in phone cameras and screens and why every phone manufacturer is working  hard to remove unnecessary hardware buttons and ports. Useful gets enhanced and waste gets abandoned, leaving a device that should now be called anything but a phone.

Now we can see how similar change is happening to the products that just a couple of years ago seemed to have reached their evolutionary peak: refrigerators and washing machines, TVs and sound systems, water heaters and meat smokers, coffee machines and even light bulbs can now get connected and smart in the way that makes sense the moment you see it. The bar is constantly raised and I am looking forward to seeing the progress that we will make in the following years, with Husqvarna Group taking the lead in the forest, garden and on the construction site. This will involve a tremendous change in how we do business on every level. Looking back at the last two years I can see that change is happening already and it’s difficult to overestimate which role we as Global Trainee Program graduates will get to play in driving it. I know mine. Let’s get done with the talking and do some data science!

Thanks!

Andriy Shyshka
Global Trainee Digital Solutions and Services