Even with the recent disruptions
we've seen around the world, there
is much to be optimistic about.
At Microsoft, we have always
been fueled by the ingenuity
and innovation of our customers
who adapt our solutions to transform
their business and make a difference
for society at large.
You've heard many inspiring examples
at Envision so far,
and I would build on this by
spotlighting our partnership
with FedEx.
We all know the important
global role that FedEx
has played in shipping and
logistics.
That role has been magnified
during a time of massive disruption
when human face to face connections
have been frayed.
Their capabilities have been put to
the test to fulfill one
of the most critical missions
of our lifetimes, delivering
millions of COVID 19
vaccine doses to states
and countries.
I'm pleased to be joined by Rob
Carter, the executive vice
president and CIO of FedEx,
to talk about how FedEx
has used data and
innovation to constantly
stay ahead of disruption
and power the logistics
and supply chains that we rely
on today.
Rob, welcome to Envision.
Thank you Mala. It's really a treat
to be here. We're excited to
tell this story about how data
is activating so
many important things inside of our
business.
That's great.
Rob, historically, how
important has data been
to FedEx's business
and how is FedEx using
data today to enable
its innovation?
Well, we have a long
history of data and information
being critical to our company.
Our founder, CEO and chairman
Fred Smith said all the way back in
1978 that the information
about the package is
as important as the package
itself.
So over many years, we've built
critical information systems
that really power our company.
They operate as the central nervous
system of the business.
But what's happened here recently,
and very interestingly,
is that while data for a long
time was the byproduct,
even the exhaust of our systems
of record, we've been elevating
data to be part of our
system of engagement.
We've been elevating data to
a higher order citizen
in our technology estate
in ways that are enabling all
kinds of new insights for our
business, for our customers
and for certainly
our operations to be as
optimal as possible.
That's powerful, Rob, and how you
sort of portraying that data being
that nervous system, if you will.
What about cyber security?
How does that play?
Well, clearly protecting that data
asset is something that's very
important inside our business.
We go to great lengths
to make sure that our customers data
is secure.
Obviously, the world has changed
dramatically over these last
several years, not just because
of COVID, but because of cyber risk.
So we're good stewards
of this data.
We focus on that a lot and we
actually lean on Microsoft quite a
bit to be partners with us
in securing that data state.
Rob, we're often amazed
and inspired by how our customers
are innovating on
Microsoft's cloud platform.
Can you tell us more about how
Azure Synapse and FedEx
Surround is giving data
a new place in FedEx
infrastructure and helping
to drive critical outcomes
for your business?
Well, let me start by explaining
a little bit about FedEx Surround,
we began a partnership with
Microsoft a little over 18 months
ago to establish
this data estate,
the new broad
end to end access
to our enterprise data.
We ship 18 million
shipments a day on average around
the world, and that data is
incredibly valuable and
it's rich with insights.
It's rich with insights about
commerce in the world,
and particularly a synapse
enables us to have a whole new
category of tools
and analytics and AI
and ML.
All the decision sciences that
go along with this estate
have made Surround
that high order citizen
that I was talking about.
Making the data estate something
really important to
our business and probably
never more important than
what you mentioned earlier the
distribution of vaccines around
the world.
We've shipped hundreds of millions
of vaccines, not just in the U.S.,
but around the world, and
in conjunction with
the technology that runs day
to day for critical shipments
like that, we've used
FedEx Surround to provide
critical visibility to
those vaccine shipments in
particular, and that's allowed
us in spite of difficult
operating scenarios
that we found ourselves in during
the pandemic to provide
very high levels of service
on those vaccine shipments because
they're so critical that they make
it to the right place and the
right time in great conditions.
So the vaccines
were really enabled by a whole
new level of insights
that Surround and Synapse
made possible.
That scale is really powerful
to hear about that scenario.
Rob, as our world becomes more
digital, customer experience
is increasingly a
point of differentiation in
the market.
Looking forward, how are you using
customer and employee feedback
to fuel continued innovation
of FedEx's
customer experience?
I think once again, this surround
environment that I'm talking about
is allowing us to have incredible
new insights that we're sharing
with our customers because the data
is so full of insights, so many
of our large e-commerce and health
care customers, we're
working together with them to
provide control tower
information that lets them
have all new levels of
visibility to their critical
shipments.
All new levels of visibility
to how well the network
is running.
And there's no question that these
have been challenging times,
but the more information we have
to kind of go back to what Fred
Smith said all the way back in
1978, the
better we're able to handle the
packages, the information
about the shipment is as
important as the shipment itself.
And together, that nexus of
the digital and physical
provides amazing insights
for us to run our networks more
efficiently for our customers
to have better information
about their shipments, moving
through their supply chains
and then together for us
to optimize the great
expectations that customers have
for us in the world of shipping
and logistics.
It's a tough time.
It's a challenging time.
But as we create a richer data
environment, we're creating better
and better experiences.
We value a partnership with FedEx,
and it's exciting to define
the future of logistics and
supply chains with you.
It is also rewarding to see the
impact of our investment
on areas such as vaccine
distribution.
Well, it's really been exciting work
for us to co-create these
capabilities with Microsoft.
The work that we've done together
has really been astounding and
has created all kinds of new
insights for our business and
for our customer.
It's a relationship that we value
greatly.
But if you'd let me, I'd kind of
like to ask you a question in
return.
You see so many customers across
such a broad spectrum,
what advice do you have for all of
us, not just for us here at FedEx
with regard to the ways that we can
best take advantage
of these opportunities with data
and with the insights that are
locked up at our data?
Rob, enabling our customers
is core to Microsoft's mission
of empowerment, not
just about giving customers the
tools and the solutions.
It's about being completely aligned
on a customer's transformation
goals and business objectives.
Seeing it through to adoption
and delivering immediate
and long lasting value.
Completely embracing co-innovation
and combining our customers
expertize with our breadth
and depth of technology
to really push the boundaries of
innovation forward
for every industry.
We are grateful for your
partnership, Rob.
Thank you so much for
being with us today.
Absolutely my pleasure.
Thanks for having us.