Ardent’s FinTech Influencer Series highlights innovative voices in the world of Accounts Payable (“AP”) automation. This series is the go-to spot for progressive thoughts on how technology, transformational thinking, and revolutionary ideas are changing how AP work gets done. Continuing our FinTech Influencer Series, today we are speaking with Shan Haq, Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Development at Transcepta.
Bob Cohen: Welcome Shan and thank you for spending some time with me today. Let’s get started. Please tell me about your background, your company, and how you ended up in the ePayables industry?
Shan Haq: My formal education is in accounting and finance, but I quickly learned that I was more interested in growing businesses and leading strategy. After stints at Deloitte Consulting, Boeing, and Microsoft, I decided to satisfy my long-standing interest in entrepreneurial companies. I started by investigating companies in Southern California that were seeking Angel and VC funding. Of all the organizations I came across, I loved the vision of Transcepta. It was a big change for me moving from Fortune 500 companies to a pre-product company with three employees. That was almost fifteen years ago and I haven’t looked back.
Transcepta is a procure-to-pay platform that connects companies with their supply chain. Customers can exchange documents electronically, collaborate and communicate more effectively, and most importantly, make better, more informed decisions by leveraging artificial intelligence, or AI, and predictive analytics.
BC: What is your perspective on the ePayables market today?
SH: I view ePayables as part of a number of converging markets. E-procurement, e-invoicing, supplier management, AP automation, and supply chain connectivity are all in a period of transition, but one trend that holds true for all of them is the use of AI and machine learning. These technologies are maturing rapidly and giving customers the ability to operate more efficiently than ever before.
BC: What should we be paying attention to now and in the future? (Technologies, trends, etc.)
SH: Building on what I said earlier, AI and machine learning are real, and have real market applications today. We tend to get caught up in a technology trend but quickly move onto the next one six months later when we realize the use cases are limited. A good example is Blockchain. No one questions its incredible potential and opportunity to play an important role in finance in the years to come. However, the simple truth is the technology hasn’t matured enough yet to have a meaningful impact. AI and machine learning on the other hand are technologies that have matured to the point where they are providing demonstrable value today to both AP and Procurement departments, and, their use cases are only increasing as time goes on.
Another important trend, which is already having big market implications is the move away from manual processes such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and scanning. It’s hard to believe that in 2020 companies are still using paper-based or image-based technologies. In five years, there will be no more paper in the process – it will be digital from end-to-end.
BC: Along those lines, how has the market/industry changed in the past five years and what do you think it will look like five years from now?
SH: Five years ago companies were just beginning to fully understand the concept of digital transformation. Electronic data transfer use cases existed but were just at the onset of a major shift in the industry. Today, the shift to digital has moved beyond the early adopters to the broader market and companies have realized that they need to look inward for new ways to stay competitive. Enterprises are looking for opportunities to remove manual processes and automate wherever possible. They are searching for solutions that can make sense of their data to power analytics dashboards and proactive alerts. Ultimately, companies are looking for smart platforms that enable faster, better decision-making.
As I mentioned earlier, we’re also seeing Procurement and AP teams shift away from OCR in favor of true digital processing. OCR is a dead technology. The errors and imperfect read rates cause serious problems for businesses because they stand in the way of total automation. Digital processing fixes all these issues. Five years from now I see straight-through digital processing as the standard technology for AP and Procurement. Manual processes will mostly be automated and exceptions will be managed proactively with analytics dashboards.
BC: As an executive at a FinTech solution provider, what keeps you up at night (good or bad)?
SH: Like anyone who is responsible for a business, you worry about all the strategies you can employ to stay best-in-class. On the flip side, it’s so important to have a sense of the market and where it’s headed. If you’re spending your time solving yesterday’s challenges for customers, you risk missing where you need to be in the future. So it’s a balance.
BC: On a personal note, what is your favorite book or movie and why do you like it?
SH: I’m sure I’ll regret saying this but I love the Dark Knight films. I’m sort of a geek so the superhero thing is fun for me. At the same time I enjoy the realism of those films.
BC: Thank you Shan for your time and sharing your insight on the market.
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