Oh welcome to gossip about gossip. Powered by Hedera Hashgraph. And each episode will cut through the hype of blockchain promises and explore real world examples of organizations creating the next generation of decentralized applications, which will bring trust back to the internet for us all. Hello, and welcome to the latest episode of gossip about gossip, the podcast where we talk about real world applications of distributed ledger technology. My name is Zenobia Gods talk, and I am the SVP of communications at World's labs, helping to develop and grow the ecosystem being built on Hedera. I am delighted to welcome to the podcast Tasker generous from ServiceNow. Tasker, how are you doing? Well, doing well. Thanks for having me. Good, good. You look quite refreshed coming back from vacation, I Namaste. Yes being out for a week is not bad with two teenage girls. That makes things very interesting. Everything was definitely a little bit of an event that might need a day or two of vacation from vacation. You don't often get chances to bond with teenage girls. So I am very thankful for that aspect. But yes, I could use a personal vacation after three years of COVID being locked in the house with everybody else. Yes Yes. I think we can all relate to that. Yes well, tasker, Thank you for joining us today. You have recently been elected as one of the new board members for the Board of directors for the Hedera governing council. Let let's sort of rewind a little bit. And for those who haven't been with us on the journey, can you talk a little bit about service now? Kind of a very quick overview of what ServiceNow is and why you all decided to join the governing council. Well, OK, so doing a brief overview of ServiceNow could take our whole time. So I'll start with a little bit of history. Fred Luddy was essentially our founder, is was our founder, and he really wanted to create a system that allowed us to change the way we work, making things work, workflow, essentially making work easier. We started getting known as an IT ticketing system. We're still relatively well known as that it ticketing system, that system that helps you run your IT department. But we've done so much more since then. We've gone back to our roots that Fred created for us so that we can really focus on what enables and experience, what makes it easier for people to do the work they want to do, whether they're employees, customers, any part of the business all the way through IT is, of course, included in that. But it's this aspect of how do you actually make your run your business on service now? That's where we're heading in phase five. That's what we're pushing for. And it's really making it so that you have this connected way of experience all the way from the employee to the customer through your ecosystems. Because there's partner suppliers, everybody comes together on getting that work done. The reason why ServiceNow joined this journey with Hedera and why we joined the governing council, there was really for this aspect of we have gaps. How do we look at workflow that enables trust? How do we look at workflow that makes it so that we can actually take that trust across that ecosystem? So through your suppliers, through your vendors, through your partners, to your customers. So it's this aspect of how do we get all the way through and doing it in such a way that DLT seemed like the best solution for us to create trusted workflows. From that point, we looked out and said, wait, Hedera is the only public permissioned DLT, so this is the one that we needed to go to. And I can imagine there were a lot of different considerations. Right when you are trying to I mean, you all have thousands of customers who are running mission critical applications. They have a lot of different considerations from someone who might be potentially just buying or selling things every once in a while. I imagine these companies are or are going through that process, leveraging their supply chain all day, every day. Well, zenobia, when you think about it, there's this aspect of we've got health care, we've got finance, we've got governments. I mean, how do you really create trust across those different networks, and even within their enterprises? So that's essentially what we're doing is figuring that piece out and backing up a little bit to what I do. So I am in charge of strategy and innovation, vision and innovation and service. Now we're really looking at what's next for ServiceNow. So we're testing things out, trying to figure out what fits. When we partnered with Microsoft for cloud management, Microsoft was our first right, and then we added the US and GCP, Google and so on, because we know there isn't just going to be one provider. We're looking at adara in that same light, so we're starting with adara and figuring out what are the others that could come after. But we want to make sure that we have things worked out before that ecosystem expands. So it's this aspect of adara became our first choice. We're looking at it and seeing how we carry that forward with actual use cases with our customers. That's an interesting thing that we just did with DLA piper, who happens to be also a customer and governing council member, is how do we create this trusted workflow around chargeback? And that was a very, very exciting implementation of servicenow, toko and as well as DLA Piper. And so and can you, can you dive in a little more? What, what do you what are chargebacks? There are always contracts that are created. They can be created as slas, where you have an expectation of that work being to a certain level. And there are ways where you actually create that, that contract, where it's a physical document. When you do that within ServiceNow it's really we can see it as a service level agreement. And if that work is carried out in the right way and the right time period, we can issue the payment because it's all checks and balances. And the nice thing is that we can issue that payment through Hedera so that when that work is done, it's automatically taken care of rather than having to go through additional process steps, creating more work for people to do. That is really many. What we want to do is enable people to think and do and create that added value rather than having to do the repetitive steps that really aren't necessary. I think for anyone who has had to approve vendor invoices, that is a very repetitive process and for anyone who has ever had to get paid. Right and having to chase that down and saying, look, you know, the work is done, my internal person can confirm the work is done, but that everybody likes to get paid on time. So, yes, and when it's audit proof, where literally you can track every little piece of it, I mean, why not make that automatic? Absolutely so you've been on the council now for some time. You we've heard you in council meetings. You have certainly been engaged. Service now is absolutely pushing the envelope in terms of the use cases and the work with other council members. And what made you decide to take this next step and run for the board? Well, I mean, when it really comes down to it, what was blockchain initially created for? It was created for this greater good. Right how do we really do good by everyone and for everyone. Because of that viewpoint of my viewpoint on how do we create blockchain for good? There were several council members that said suggested gently prodded that I should be run for this board seat. And so I ran for the board seat and got elected. And it's truly an honor. But it's really how do we execute? How do we execute better? And in such a way I mean, don't get me wrong, there has done great things. So it's how do we take those next steps? How do we do it so that it's repeatable? How do we look at it from a perspective of not only repeatability, but making it difference? So how do we create enterprise for good? And that's something that I've staunchly been working on the entire time I've been working my whole career is how do we take that next step? Because it's not about how we automate things. Technology is great, but I look at it as kind of a balanced system. You have technology, you have process, you have organization, and then you have information. All four pillars, all of those pillars are legs to a table. That table is service, right? So how do we make that service. So seamless that it's a great experience? And being that it's a great experience, it now makes it easier for everyone to have access. Right so you take one of those pillars, those legs away, that service becomes a little shaky. You take two of them away at the surface collapse. So we don't want that to happen because when services aren't available, it means that people don't have access. If you don't have access, you can't contribute. You can't belong. And in this world where technology is continuing to distance us, we have to figure out how to create things that are human centric. And that's really what I'm about, is, is how do we create that human centricity and doing it in such a way that it really provides access for all. And so everybody can contribute and everybody can love that. And I think that's very in line with leaman from day one who's talked about shared worlds, right? That is in all aspects of our lives, whether that is our communities or our work worlds do become our shared worlds. Right I have, as I'm sure you do, longtime friends who started off as colleagues. You know, those relationships last. And how do you build trust in, like you said, an increasingly spread out unconnected world where we have ability to connect. But the but the experience of that and the trust level of that can be a double edged sword. Well, it means you bring up a perfect example. Everybody everybody's going from analog to digital. That's this whole digital transformation phase. But there's this aspect of evolution that's involved with it, because you can't just go from analog to digital. It's like switching from a pen to a computer. That's just a piece of technology. Yeah you have to start thinking about, OK, now I'm taking I've got real world aspects that I got to take in. How do I connect the real world to that person? While they're connected to the digital, and then you add the metaverse to that. Now we've got and I say multiple metaverse is it's not just going to be one. You start looking at that. How do you carry that connection all the way through? And that's workflow. Yeah yeah, it has to. It has to work, right? It doesn't just magically happen. People have to be behind the scenes thinking about that and actively thinking about what is the right design of that? How do we make that easily consumable? I think we talked about we're still at the stage of this technology where people are comparing bits and bytes and feeds and speeds. But we want to get to the point where, just like the internet, I don't need to know what happens in the background. I don't need to know how my web server is talking to my application server. I just want to have that experience. Just flip the switch. That's right. So I was on a different podcast last week, and I shared the Andy Grove mantra of only the paranoid survive. And I think you touched on that with where do we go from here? We've we have this great platform. We have these use cases. We're seeing people more mainstream adoption and acceptance of distributed ledger technology. As you think about your role on the board and helping to guide the vision and the direction of hedera, what do you hope to share or contribute to that community? Even when it comes right down to it, we've got to find the use cases that move the needle. Right ESG is a really big segment right now. It's something that everybody's focused on when it comes right down to it. A lot of people are just focused on carbon emissions now. There's nothing wrong with being focused on that. That's a good place to start. But when you start looking at the capabilities and possibilities that we can look into, I go back to this aspect of how do we create access for all? And I think obviously we will push use cases that are really important. It won't be from quote unquote the board perspective, but it's this aspect of looking at it from. What is the lens that we're currently executing on? Is it on something focused on transactions? Is it focused on tbl? Is it focused on some other kpi? I think we have to look at KPIs holistically and put those pieces together so that we're actually doing things for good. It's and now it's not just greenwashing, per se. Hits this aspect of this is how we're making things matter and creating those moments that matter. As a board member, that's what I'm going to be focused on, looking at those KPIs and figuring out. So are they weighted correctly? Are we really executing in that manner? And then really, how do we advise to make sure that we are doing exactly what we say we're doing? Yeah, well, and shameless plug for service. Now, you guys have a lot of experience in this ESG space, right? I mean, I look at some of the maturity models that you are guiding customers towards in the way that you're thinking about it. That's absolutely not greenwashing. Right that is here's how you start and then here's how you should be thinking about how to plan out your future. So that the talking about it is just the smallest piece of your actual initiatives. Well, zenobia, it goes back to what people think of us. If they think of us as an IT ticketing system, they don't think of us as this ESG planner. Right but when you really look at work and how to make that. Transparent how do you understand every step in that process and who's doing it? Not from a big brother perspective, but just to make sure that it's flowing because you don't want to, for example, call air and then wonder what's happening. Right you don't want to pick up the phone and say to your supplier, hey, when is this going to be delivered? I mean, you have the Domino's pizza tracker now. Right now is a much more what would you call it, end to end system that really covers what is happening behind the scenes like you would see in the Domino's pizza track. So, yes, we are much more mature than people think. I mean, we have companies that are actually running their business on servers now. And, you know, I don't want to get brand upset with me, so I'm not going to start dropping names. But when it really comes down to it, it's not just companies, it's governments, it's critical infrastructure. It's how do we do. How do we help our customers, help their customers and our citizenry? So, you know, it's a. One of the things that I'm very proud of that. We were able to accomplish this year is really helping the UN with the Ukrainian refugee crisis. And we're not all done yet. We still have a ways to go, but it's pretty exciting to be able to say, yeah, we, we, we created enterprise for good. So yeah, that's amazing. Those are the kinds of things that make you wake up in the morning and want to just keep going full steam ahead. Right when you see the impact that this has and you can feel like it has value to people, it's changing their lives. Well, I mean, everybody is looking for how they contribute, how they actually made a difference. And yeah, I mean, most times you wake up, it's like this isn't going to save a person's life. I'm not, you know, doing rocket science. I'm not doing surgery and brain surgery and all that sort of stuff. But creating transparency and making it so that the resources get to where they are needed. That might not be brain surgery, that might not be saving a, quote unquote life. But at the same time, it could. So that is definitely motivating. And then back to your previous point on ESG, I mean. Yeah a lot of companies don't see us as the place to start for ESG, but. If you don't know where you're going, any path will do. Right so the companies don't even know where to start, right? Not even just not to. To look at you. They don't know where to look at. All right. Right so. So the point is in that space. How do you look at it from a governance lens? And that helps you say, well, what are my priorities? And if these are my priorities, this is what I have to govern. These are the KPIs that I have to measure, and this is the transparency I need in order to measure. So you start putting those dots together and then possibly what we could be doing with that era. You start looking at this aspect of now I have audit and trusted workflow. You already have audit with ServiceNow. But now I can actually go to others and tie that piece in. So it's not just within my enterprise. And those certifications then become real, right? Because you can actually certify with an exterior partner via DLT. Yeah so. Just pretty exciting stuff. Very, very exciting stuff. Well, tasker, Thank you so much for joining us today. Anything you want to share before we wrap up here? No once again, I'm honored to be a part of board member. Honored to be part of the Hedera council. And really honored to be a part of this podcast. And if there's anything you guys ever need, please don't hesitate to reach out. We will take you up on that. Well, Thank you so much, Tasker. Have a good one. All right. You too.
