>> Hello. I'm Dona.
>> I'm Sarah.
>> I'm Alan.
>> Welcome to Less Code, More Power.
Today, we're going to hear from Alan on how he uses
technology to improve our environment
as well as our local work space.
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>> Hello. Welcome to Less Code,
More Power. I'm Dona.
>> I'm Sarah.
>> Today, we've got an incredible guest, Mr. Alan Chai.
So Alan, tell us about you. Tell us everything.
>> Well, I'm just a guy who loves to solve problems, yeah.
>> I'm just a guy, that's so humble.
>> He's just a guy who loves to solve problems.
>> A country guy.
>> A country guy who likes to solve problems.
So Alan is from Schlumberger
and he's with us on campus this week
doing a bunch of exec visits and such.
So of course, we can drag him into
the studio so he could tell his story to all of you.
So tell us what that story is.
Tell us all about how you got started with PowerApps.
What does the Power Platform mean to you,
and of course, what's next?
What are all the cool things you're looking forward to?
>> Sure, yeah. So I started the journey not too long ago.
Actually, I'm quite late into the game,
compared to the emeritus chairmans around the network.
I started by actually
have a problem to solve which is
to stop people dying from heart attack.
>> Wow, no big deal.
>> So I create apps to get people
to stay active and to have a healthy lifestyle.
>> So you did this in your company?
>> Yes.
>> So at Schlumberger,
you had a colleague who passed away,
unfortunately, and Alan said, ''This is stupid.''
So he made a PowerApp.
How did you even discover PowerApps?
Because it's not like one day someone says,
"I'm going to build a PowerApp," when they've never
heard of it. So how did that happen?
>> So actually, I discovered it by chance.
I was playing around on Office 365,
it was deployed across the tenant,
and then I click on the Office waffle icon.
>> Oh, yeah [inaudible] waffle.
>> Yeah. A bunch of icons show up.
There's something that sounds like an app
where it says "power" in front,
so it must be powerful.
>> Yeah, I like that. Good naming.
>> That's amazing. You're very people-focused.
Tell us more about from
all that happening,
how did you go from there,
building the app, to where you are now?
>> Yeah. So for me,
I'm a very visual person.
I believe in having beautiful things, yeah.
So even when I'm building apps initially,
I wasn't satisfied with the look and view that come from the box.
I like to challenge myself
to take it to the next level and make it really stunning
and so that I can have the great adoption from my user.
So I want to make sure my user likes the app,
they like to come back again and to use it.
>> Of course.
>> So you made this a health tracker app
for people to go get miles and for running?
>> Correct.
>> How many people did you think would adopt it?
>> For the apps,
we track the number of miles we run as a company.
Initially, we just want to do
a full-circle run off all the offices around Europe,
which is about 22,000 kilometers.
We achieved that in two weeks.
>> Wow.
>> So after one year of the app being in use,
we actually did more than 400,000 now.
>> Four hundred thousand?
>> Yeah.
>> Wow, that's amazing.
>> That's to the moon and back.
Isn't that the distance to the moon and back?
>> Does it bring you happiness in terms of joy,
in terms of the difference that you're making there?
>> Absolutely. The real difference is not the numbers;
it's when I see the people changing.
I have known a person that she started off oversized,
overweight in the range of 200-over pounds,
and today, after using the app in two months,
she's a marathon runner.
>> Wow. So one of
your colleagues was overweight. Two years of using this app,
she's now running marathons.
>> Yes, that's right.
>> Wow. We always talk about
how the Power platform can help people in their role and staff,
but also maybe we don't talk about enough, and we should be,
the fact that those people can help other
people. Like, "Look at that person. Their lives changed."
>> Absolutely. That's wild.
>> Yeah. So for me, it's
the tangible things, seeing your friends change
and their life change because of
the solution we try to push out there to solve a problem.
>> That's amazing.
>> It's so cool. That wasn't the only PowerApp you've built.
In the last few years,
you've built how many PowerApps?
>> Last count from yesterday, 91.
>> Ninety one PowerApps for
Schlumberger in how many years? Two years.
>> In two years.
>> Two years. That is a ridiculous number of apps.
That is so interesting.
You've realized that your company really benefits from these apps
and this is what you do now.
This did not use to be your job,
and now, you are the head
of digital transformation for Schlumberger,
so this is your entire job, is to build apps,
build teams to help them learn to build apps, etc.
That is super cool.
>> Yes. So coming from the [inaudible] side
into the [inaudible] side now,
I need to make sure that I am able to replicate myself
because there's no point having
one single hero trying to drive the organization to make app.
You want to be successful,
you need to have multiple of me.
So this year, my aim is to multiply myself,
clone myself 20 times in 2020.
>> Chai clones.
>> That's amazing.
>> I love it.
>> Yeah. So that I can elevate 20 Power makers
to be able to do what I do across various business unit
and bring the adoption to the next level.
>> Amazing.
>> Yeah.
>> So you're going to grow 20 versions of yourself.
So the goal is you're going to have 20 app makers
at the end of this year.
>> Twenty Power user,
so they are not just app maker but they are solution solver.
>> Yes.
>> Business problem solver.
>> Yes.
>> They're embedded in the business.
>> Embedded within the business.
>> It's really interesting how you've put that
because it's about knowing that as a single person,
as amazing as a person can be,
there's a limit to that.
>> That's right.
>> An absolute limit. The fact that you're
then going to go out there and coach people,
you're going to bring them in, you're going to, again,
change their lives and stuff,
and bring all of that kind of stuff in.
>> Yeah.
>> I really like the fact that
they're embedded in the business units.
>> Yeah. >> Because often, we will clone
ourselves and have them all be in IT
or have them all be in the digital transformation unit.
>> So when you say within the business units,
do you mean like supply chain, finance, marketing, etc.?
>> That's right. We have supply chain,
finance, and even HSC, safety department.
>> The safety department.
>> Yeah. So they're embedded into the business.
They look at the business problem day to day
then they [inaudible]
and you equip them with
the tools to be able to solve problem right there.
So that actually also
encourage innovation at the edge of the business.
>> I love that, because your company,
Schlumberger, is 100,000 people?
>> A hundred thousand, yeah.
>> You said something like 85 countries?
>> Yes.
>> That's a lot of countries.
>> Yeah.
>> I know. Yeah.
>> There's a lot of people that say
the Power platform isn't scalable for enterprise.
>> That's right.
>> I think that you've proven them wrong.
>> Yes.
>> Yeah. It's definitely very scalable.
The recipe into the scaling is not about just scale
but make sure that your scale in a structured manner,
and at the same time, keeping it safe, all right?
>> Right.
>> So you want your maker to be able to run and run safely.
>> Right, with guardrails.
>> Correct, with guardrails.
>> Still be empowered at the same time.
>> Correct. Stay empowered at the same time
and not limiting in terms of the agility, the innovation power.
>> That's right.
>> Yeah.
>> Alan is very passionate about
making things look beautiful but also functional,
because you fully understand
if an app is easy and beautiful to use,
people are far more likely to use it
as proven by the 400,000 miles to the moon and back.
>> Yeah.
>> Tell us what you've got to show
the audience today.
>> Yeah. I'd like to
show everyone the next project that I'm embarking on.
This is still in the making,
in the design stage.
As we all know, aggressively across the world,
everybody need to do their part to save the world,
to reduce our carbon footprint.
So what I'm going to do next is work on an app to
gamify the carbon footprint awareness program at individual level.
>> Interesting. Okay.
>> Nice.
>> It's almost like a game that you will
be assigned a certain task, for example, Dona,
when you play the game in app,
you'll receive a task for, say,
the next week, you're going to avoid single-use plastic bottle
10 times.
>> I like that. Okay.
>> That's pretty cool. It allows
people to actually do something that they could do.
>> Something very practical.
>> Something practical, something that we
can teach or educate individuals about their role,
what they can contribute in terms
of reducing the carbon footprint.
>> Wonderful.
>> Reducing carbon footprint is not
just an enterprise responsibility, it's also individual.
>> That's right. We as employees own these commitments we make.
We were talking a lot about Microsoft's commitment to be
carbon negative by the year 2050.
This is the kind of thing that can really help us a lot
because we as employees all want to say,
"How do we contribute to this?"
Sure, ride bicycles more,
bring reusable cups more, what else do we do?
>> Rideshare.
>> Yeah. Share rides.
>> Even things like,
for example, in a weekend,
you choose to go to a local farmer's market and buy local produce
rather than having a fish that is air flown somewhere else
with all the carbon footprint.
>> Go meatless.
>> Yeah.
>> Also that. Okay, cool.
So tell us about this app you're designing.
This is very cool.
>> Yeah. So this app, as you can see on the screen,
it will have the user profile describing your persona.
You can create your superpower character
and we're going to call it Green Box.
Then from there, you'll see there are some activity category
where you'll be given some task; bike to work,
or use public transport,
or avoid single-use bottles, and eat local.
>> Yes.
>> Then on the top part, we have this
Share and Inspire section
where I mentioned you discover
some great tips to do the reduction of carbon footprint.
You share through the app
and you earn more points. Yeah.
>> So that's the sharing. For example,
I got assigned a task and I found a great way to do that task,
I can share how I do that
so when someone else gets assigned that,
they can go ahead and take that tip.
>> Correct, and you gain the points.
>> Nice.
>> I like this.
>> Win-win.
>> Look at this. Yeah.
>> When you gain a point, you gain a badge, a new badge.
So with that, we do
some challenges between individuals through the app.
>> I love that. You guys have
some really fun apps at Schlumberger by the way.
>> By the way, this app, I intend to make it public
because it doesn't need to be restricted to a single company.
The community template.
>> Yeah, community template.
>> We're 100 percent going to
use this app at Microsoft, just so you know.
>> I don't know if know Keith Whatling.
He did a Templates for Humanity effort
and actually everything that needs to be in there.
>> I think it should be a template for humanity.
Keith, you're getting homework also.
>> Yeah.
>> This is so cool, Alan.
I love this. I love the fact that it's something so practical.
All of these people at Schlumberger and
around the world can use this, apply this,
and then come up with their own ideas on
what kinds of apps they can build to
reduce this environment impact in their own area. It's so cool.
>> Yeah. Also, I just finished a lunch with INC, with DeShaun.
INC has similar sustainability programs
so we are actually going to collaborate together.
>> I love that.
>> That's amazing.
>> Yeah.
>> So just for the rest of you,
the INC team is
the customer success org here who works with Power Platform.
They just had an all-hands meeting this morning
and Alan actually presented there,
brought down the house, people were crying.
It was intense. He was the star of the show today.
But one of the most interesting conversations
we've had in that team
was talking about the UN sustainability goals
and how we, Microsoft,
can contribute to those sustainability goals.
Now, you are working with us and the UN as well.
>> That's right. >> That's amazing.
>> That is wonderful. Super awesome.
Cool. So of course,
we never exit a show without assigning you homework.
>> No.
>> So Alan, what assignment do you have for our audience?
>> Give us the homework.
>> Homework? Okay.
>> Yes.
>> Let me think about this.
>> You don't have to go small,
this is the something that people can do right now.
>> Yes.
>> This isn't something like, "Oh, okay,
I'll get to it next week or six months."
>> Something they can do today.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. I am a pretty practical person.
So if I want to give you homework,
I want to make sure the homework is useful for you.
>> Yes.
>> The homework is
go talk to your kids,
if you have kids, or your nieces or nephews.
Find someone who is 10 years old or below.
Ask them what is their biggest problem today.
Take that problems and try to solve it.
>> That's pretty cool. That's a good takeaway.
>> That is interesting.
Then you can probably
co-create some sort of [inaudible] solution with them.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. That is fascinating.
>> Also working together with those people
with the problems, show them what you make
and show them what you're doing
and get them involved in the Power Platform.
>> Yeah.
>> I love that.
>> So if you want some tips,
I practiced the same model with my daughter
over the Thanksgiving holiday.
She said she wants to build an app with me
so I said, "Okay. Yeah, I will teach you,
but let's pick something relevant."
So I challenged her to say, "What is your problem?"
She said the biggest problem is
her Harry Potter trading cards app
of all the Pokemon cards.
So she said, "Okay, we need an app to manage this."
>> Card management app.
>> Correct. >> That's cool.
>> I love that.
>> She built that in one hour.
>> In one hour?
>> In one hour.
>> What? How old is she?
>> She was 10 back then.
>> Alan's 10 year old builds apps faster than anyone we know.
That's amazing.
>> Yeah.
>> Amazing. Does she need a job?
Yeah. All right. So you heard the homework.
Go find a young person in your life.
Discuss with them a problem they have,
a very specific local problem,
and together, co-create an app,
an automation, a website,
a chat bot, something,
and show them the power of the Power Platform
because they should learn that they
actually have the solution right in their own hands.
>> That's right. Yeah.
>> The power to change it.
>> That's right. >> Yeah.
>> Yes.
>> I love it. It's fantastic.
All right. We're out of time. As always, I'm Dona.
>> I'm Sarah.
>> I'm Alan.
>> Thank you for joining us for Less Code,
More Power. See you next time.
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