Saralyssa Gonzalez knits teams and technology together to transform business for IBM

The Adobe Experience Maker Awards recognize extraordinary digital experiences that set the bar for what customers expect from brands in a digital age.

But their experience is only part of the story. How teams collaborate and work together behind the scenes to deliver these experiences is as interesting — and challenging — as what customers see.

Finalists for The Collaborator category in the 2023 Adobe Experience Maker Awards demonstrated a commitment to this ethos of work management — that how we work is as important as the experiences we create.

Adobe Insider Katie Martell sat down with one of these extraordinary finalists, Saralyssa Gonzalez from IBM at the Adobe Executive Forum, an invitation-only event for industry leaders driving experience-led growth.

https://video.tv.adobe.com/v/3426767

Martell: Congrats on being a finalist for the Collaborator award! Tell me about your role at IBM?

Gonzalez: At IBM, I lead an intelligent automation group focused on delivering business impact, the highest level of productivity, cost savings, and process gains. We seek to understand where there are gaps and where the business is excelling, and then aim to reorient our teams and technology accordingly.

I tend to look at the big picture, but I’m also fascinated by why things work and the ways we can make them better. So, I see the big picture, but then look at how we can leverage all the different capabilities within Adobe Experience Cloud to make that come to life.

Martell: How would you describe the journey leading up to this finalist recognition?

Gonzalez: IBM has been on a multiyear transformation journey, and it’s wonderful to be recognized!

We started with a better understanding of our data to learn what our customers are telling us and how we can best support them. Then, we started to layer in new technology including Adobe Workfront. It was the connective tissue to all our platforms, enabling our marketers to lean into the capabilities we have across Adobe Experience Cloud to bring experiences to life.

It’s a journey, but day by day we see the positive impact of it. We’re getting to market faster. We’re translating faster. And the experiences are much more relevant.

Martell: That’s fantastic — any advice for those embarking on a similar journey?

Gonzalez: Like anyone else tackling large scale transformation, we’ve had several key learnings. I often joke that IBM is not a startup. It’s a massive, global company.

If I could give myself some advice from the very beginning, I would remind myself that it’s very much a journey. Transformation is not something that happens overnight. It’s important to have a tremendous amount of change management.

We like to think of our work with Adobe not as a technology transformation, but as a business transformation. We are not only adding new technology to our business — we’re empowering our teams and bringing them along, so they understand the impact of the capabilities and can bring experiences to life.

Martell: Tell me how IBM is meeting evolving customer expectations?

Gonzalez: What customers and prospects are experiencing today is very different from even just a few years ago. Customers expect to be treated differently. They expect a different relationship with brands. With the pandemic, face-to-face interactions evaporated, and we became highly dependent on screens.

Our focus at IBM has been to deliver seamless digital experiences that are omnichannel and to meet our client or prospect wherever they want with the message they want at the right time. Adobe tools — from the digital asset management (DAM) system and content management system (CMS), to Adobe Target, Adobe Experience Manager, and Workfront — have given us more omnichannel coordination to deliver those relevant experiences no matter where our clients or prospects are.

The future of digital experiences in a post-pandemic world and with so much next-generation technology at our fingertips is going to be exponentially faster, more relevant, and highly personalized.

Martell: Could you talk about the impact AI may have on this workflow?

Gonzalez: AI is an area that we’re very excited about at IBM, not only because our business plays a huge part in the industry, but also because we see the value it will have in the future. We are also the only major consulting company inside a technology company with both the AI technology and the business expertise to put it to work.

It’s important that we have our people focus on what matters most and spend their time as effectively as possible. We’ve been really focused on building a content supply chain as part of our multiyear transformation. Now, with the impact generative AI can have, we’re looking at how we can transition away from a content supply chain to an intelligent content supply chain.

We expect to see more relevancy, faster gains throughout the system, and more use of generative AI to look at content creation differently.

Whether through Adobe Sensei or Adobe Firefly, generative AI is a great area for us to see exponential gains and better experiences for clients and prospects overall.

Through our partnership with Adobe, we’re laser-focused on how we layer that generative AI onto the content supply chain to help not only ourselves at IBM, but also to help our peers along the way and drive the industry change we want to see.

Martell: What’s something that isn’t on your LinkedIn profile that affects what you do?

Gonzalez: I’m an avid knitter! I started during COVID and now I knit as much as possible in my spare time as a stress reliever. It clears my mind and allows me to be more creative and productive during the day. I make a lot of cardigans, and a lot of blankets if anyone is interested.

Martell: With knitting, you are turning loose threads into something beautiful. At IBM, you’re doing the same, bringing teams, processes, and technology together — and that’s what the Collaborator award is all about! I’d love a scarf this Christmas in Adobe red, please.

Gonzalez: You’ve got it.

Katie Martell is an Adobe Insider, creator, and marketing strategist based in Boston, Massachusetts. As we navigate the digital age, she amplifies stories of transformation and trends in business, CX (customer experience), and marketing. Martell has been named “one of the most interesting people in B2B marketing,” a top voice to follow on LinkedIn, and an Adweek Pride Star.