Facilitating A Touchless World with RRD’s Ken O’Brien

How many times over the last year have you visited a restaurant and sitting on the table right in front of you was bar code that led you to all the information you needed. From drinks, to desserts and entrees and everything in between, that simple code unlocked a handful of opportunities and experiences all through technologies that already exist within your phone. With more than 2 billion QRC- and NFC-enabled devices in use today (including the cell phone you might be listening to this podcast on), and in the midst of a global pandemic, QR codes have undergone a renaissance and companies such as RRD are rushing to meet your needs.

“We create those touch points, something that triggers the experience, and that can happen way before you get to a payment machine, that can happen on a label on the outside of a product, on signage, outside of a building, on a post in front of a parking space, any number of different ways where a individual can engage a device, where they are basically triggering a touchless experience.”

Making smartphones smarter and the user experience better through taps, snaps or scans is RRD’s latest piece of communication technology, Touchless World. Ken O’Brien is the EVP and CIO of RRD, a leading global provider of marketing and communications. And while you might not think RRD is known for its transformational technology, you’d be flat-out wrong. 

On this episode of IT Visionaries, Ken provides context for how RRD’s Touchless World operates and how the company is helping its clients leverage NFC technology to deliver seamless customer experiences. Plus, Ken dives into the challenges that the company currently faces, including how it is managing its technology debt after being in business for more than a century.

Main Takeaways

• It’s a Tough World: When a company is more than a century old, that shows that it has adapted, grown, and changed with the times. As that happens, though, technical debt builds up and needs to be dealt with in order to stay agile.
• But What is A Touchless World?: A touchless world simply means eliminating some of the impediments that can cause a poor user experience, such as waiting in line to checkout at a kiosk. By developing scannable QR codes that incorporate a device's NFC system, RRD. has given the user a streamlined experience. 
• Keeping Up with the Times: One of the most important things for any company is continuing to modernize its tech stack. Regardless of any technical debt that may have accumulated, it’s critical to always have a clear path for your digital transformation efforts.

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