- Hi everybody, I'm Jay Hartzell. I'm Dean of the McCombs School of Business
and I'm really happy to have Paul Knopp here. Paul, welcome.
This is our first one of these series where we're trying to bring out
some of our great alums and supporters and get some insights and perspectives,
so thanks for joining us today.
- It's a pleasure to be here. I'm a proud graduate of the University of Texas.
A BBA in '82 and an MBA in '83,
and I have just phenomenal memories of my years there.
- That's great, and I thought -- You know I have this interim presidency thing
coming up, and I get these -- All these congratulations,
and then people say "What? Are you nuts taking on this job right now?"
- (laughing) Yes.
- So, you must have some of the same mixed emotions about taking on the CEO role.
You know, you were kind of right when the crisis was not what it is today,
but how are you finding it now going into your role in this moment?
- Yes, thanks Jay. I tell you, when I was interviewing for this role,
it was January – December or January of ‘19 --
Excuse me, of 2019 and 2020, and so none of this had even hit yet.
It was just, it's just amazing to think about how the world has changed.
So, we -- I was elected on March, excuse me, March the 3rd, 2020,
and by March the 13th of 2020 we were already working at home.
And everything that we had been thinking about in terms of
setting the strategy of the firm, the vision for the firm, had changed.
You know, I had these visions of being on the road,
visiting with our teams in our offices across the country.
We actually did all that. We did it virtually.
So, we met with them to lay out our strategy, talk about our vision.
And so, it's critically important, you know,
to continue the momentum in any way you can during this time,
where we're working more virtually and remotely.
And it's worked well, but it's obviously suboptimal to some degree.
But it's the way the world's going to be working, and so we have to think about
the way it's changed and the way we're going to move forward.
- And how is your views -- Have your views on leadership changed.
Are they affected by trying to do this remotely
or is it sort of back to kind of the same basics you think?
How do you nest leadership with this new environment?
- Yeah, I don't think it's really changed how I think about leadership.
You know, certainly it has changed how we think about the firm's strategy
moving forward. It's accelerated our digital transformation
and our service delivery models, in particular.
And we're thinking about how we accelerate that transformation
to move into the future. And that includes, you know, how we serve our clients.
And quite frankly, we're audit, tax, and advisory,
so those three businesses are very different,
but we're setting an agenda for the future where we're going to think about
how we serve clients both remotely and in person.
And longer-term that's going to be complex because
the one thing that's certain about this current crisis
is the massive amount of uncertainty.
And we're going to have to think about how we navigate that going forward.
- And I -- If you think about what the long-haul might look like,
and I think we're all facing some bumps as we get through this,
but do you have a sense -- Yeah, it may be early,
but do you have a sense of what kind of lasting impacts you think this moment in time
has for your organization in five years?
- Well, I think we will look back on it five years from now and think that
while there's nothing good about COVID-19, it's a horrible tragedy,
that it's certainly going to accelerate the kind of change
that we really wanted to embark upon anyway, quite frankly.
And so, I think about how companies that I serve are transforming their own
business processes from back-end to front-end,
back office to middle office to front office.
And we think about that -- that journey of transforming those processes
using robotic process automation, using digital tools, digital automation.
Many companies have called it "reimagining the way they work."
We're all going to be doing that now.
I think when I'll look back on it five years hence and think that
while that crisis was horrible, it really accelerated the pace of change
and caused us to do things in a much more productive, efficient way.
- Oh, that's interesting. You know, we --
You all have been a tremendous hirer of our students,
so thank you for that, and we will try to send more your way.
As you think about what our students are facing and the talent acquisition
and retention business that you're in -- People are the lifeblood of your firm.
So, how -- Any advice for our students coming out,
any ways you think this will change your perspectives on talent?
- Well, I think that the students should definitely take
an enterprise view, first of all.
So, all your studies, whether you're an accounting major, a finance major,
marketing major, are crucially important, but I think it's really important
to have that enterprise view, front-to-back of the enterprise,
and that's really going to help students as they move forward.
Also, I think digital literacy is crucially important.
As students think about how rapidly emerging technologies are being embraced
and quite frankly, how they're changing over time,
they're going to need to think about
how they deal with those emerging technologies.
I'd also say just enjoy the experience, first and foremost.
I think back to my five years on campus and think about -- For instance,
I was an accounting major, but I think back to the incredible experience
I had in my twelve hours of history, which I just loved.
I think it's really important to think about education as a lifelong journey.
So, I think it's crucially important to think about the business aspects of it.
It's also really important to be a student of the world, to think globally,
to think how important inclusiveness and diversity is.
Think about how a multicultural world really works,
all those things are really important to broaden your horizons
and to make you much more relevant to future employers.
- That's great to hear. I always like seeing the students that are
double majoring in something, or finding a minor somewhere.
It's an interesting blend and a good mix for our students.
- Yeah, I always had hoped to be a Plan II major,
but my financial situation was such that I needed to be a little more practical.
- (laughing)
- So, I became an accounting major instead and I don't regret it.
I had some of the real legends of UT accounting, like Aubrey Smith
and Glenn Welsch and Charlie Zlatkovich and Ray Sommerfeld,
so it was an incredible experience.
- Well -- And as you know, we are still still ranked number one.
So, we're protecting the brand.
And a lot of it’s from firms like KPMG and all the help you give us.
So, thanks for all you do and thanks for taking time today
and being our inaugural participant in this series.
We look forward to seeing how you shape the direction of KPMG in the years to come.
- Absolutely. I take the helm on July the 1st,
and we're working very hard to prepare for that.
We look forward to seeing everybody on campus hopefully very soon.
So, good luck to everybody, and congratulations on those
that are graduating, and I look forward to seeing everybody soon.
- Thanks. Well, can we get a hook 'em?
- Hook 'em horns! - Hook 'em horns!