Podcast: Three lessons in RPA from Circle K’s Jorgen Lislerud

Understanding best practice and learning from others is critical to automation success, says head of shared services at Circle K

Image: Wikimedia Commons

From his early days as a retail manager to his current role as managing director for global retail brand Circle K’s business centre, Jorgen Lislerud has had a passion for good customer service.

“My goal in life is to be the best possible retailer I can be,” he tells AI Network Podcast host Seth Adler in this episode of the show.

It was the early wins in Circle K’s RPA efforts which led to its large scale roll out across multiple functions including customer service, finance and HR operations. Listen in as Lislerud delves into the Circle K rebrand, his vision for long-term automation success, and three key lessons he’s learned along the way.

Listen in:

1. Have proof of concept

Lislerud is not shy in admitting that initial automation efforts were hampered by asking the wrong question. “At the beginning it was more like, ‘what can we put into this software?’ rather than, ‘what are we trying to achieve at a high level?’” he says.

It was only in understanding the benefits of the system and their applicability across core functions that the brand was able to completely embrace RPA, Lislerud adds.

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“We understood that RPA software was actually able to log onto systems, to pick up data and use that data for something useful, and work with the process end-to-end.”

2. Ask the right questions

“RPA does not solve everything,” says Lislerud. “When you have a problem or a big manual process, you first need to look into all the alternatives that you have.”

Asking questions like, “Should we do a lean process here?” “Is it about integration?” and, “Is it a system for RPA?” are critical to success, he says. And, once you’ve got proof of concept, it’s about asking “how can we scale this up?” and “where can we identify other processes that will fit this model?”.

3. Look for potential 

Look at your operations and assess which can be improved or streamlined with RPA, Lislerud says, adding that he sees huge potential in Circle K’s HR operational tasks.

“We work with payroll and HR administration—from hiring a person to travel and expenses. There’s an ocean of data, moving in different systems, so of course it’s something for robotics.”

But the ultimate goal, he says, is to free up employees’ time so people can do what they do best: Running the stores. “How can we use automation, RPA, AI to close the office, so we can go back to doing what we do best—managing the stores.”

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