435: Leave Excel Behind, with Parabola

Alex Yaseen of Parabola talks about his founder journey; the future of spreadsheets; empowering teams with workflow control; and embracing AI.    IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:   [07.34] An introduction to Alex, his background, and the journey that led him to found Parabola. “Most people seem to engage with new tech with fear and a lack of agency… People describe fighting against technology. And that’s a shame, because you could have such a positive, productive, empowering relationship with technology once you know how to use it.” [12.48] The challenges Alex saw as a consultant at Deloitte, and the problems he still sees across the industry, when it comes to people and technology. “Even at Fortune 50 companies, people were still doing incredibly non-scalable, crazy, manual processes on spreadsheets.” [16.46] An overview of Parabola – who they are, what they do and how they help their customers – and Alex’s take on the mismatch between operations and IT that Parabola is helping to solve. [21.09] The growing importance of AI, and how Parabola are integrating it into their solution with impact in mind. “Combining two things together is important – the ability to grab the data, and the ability to action on it.” [26.16] The ideal client for Parabola. [28.23] A closer look at the Parabola platform, its intuitive drag-and-drop workflow, and how teams can use it. [31.37] Why integration isn’t something you need to be scared of with Parabola. “When people hear the word ‘integration’ they get scared. It’s normally a big long process, you have to work with your IT team and they’re going to get mad at you… We want to do things differently.” [34.23] How the Parabola platform can help supply chain teams optimize processes from scorecarding and management to audits and track and trace. [39.43] From improving productivity and facilitating growth, to saving time and giving teams ownership over their own workflows, the impact of that optimization on businesses and their bottom lines. “Operations people are probably the most important people at a company – they know how things work and have great ideas… We’re trying to shine a spotlight onto them… And our best users have a track record of being promoted pretty quickly.” [42.05] The impact of leveraging the power of Parabola on the industry. [45.02] A case study detailing how Parabola helped a large retail brand achieve multiple levels of ROI – saving them money, but also boosting team engagement and job satisfaction, and helping the Director of Operations get a better seat at the table in leadership conversations. [49.51] From AI to nurturing a better understanding of business problems, what we can expect from the industry in 2025. “Increasingly, the hard thing within companies is actually understanding the problem... It’s that knowledge of what’s important within the company, and having people on your team who know where the bodies are buried! Companies who are great at cultivating and empowering their people are going to rise to the surface.” RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   Head over to Parabola’s website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Parabola and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, YouTube, and X (Twitter), or you can connect with Alex on LinkedIn.