I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING DIGITAL
“Laurin and Klement made do with pencil and paper, we today work with exponentially growing volumes of data,” says IT business analyst for process automation Ondřej Česák
He has been around the digital world and computers since childhood. To this day, Ondřej Česák works as an IT business analyst for process automation at Škoda Auto. His work involves primarily data analysis, but he also does management and marketing, which he studied in university at Hradec Králové. Ondřej doesn’t leave the digital environment even in his spare time: hundreds of thousands of users know his videos from the YouTube channel Super Trendy, where he deals with superheroes, current series, and film hits. How is work with data being transformed and why even an inconspicuous keychain can totally transform your career?
Years ago, you were involved in the creation of escape games. How did you get into such unconventional work?
It was a student project that I took up when I was finishing school. What I mainly enjoyed was engineering and inventing advanced technologies, led by electromagnets and laser sensors. I was able to design these features and to then put them together to form games. After about two and a half years, I sold my share in the company and wanted to pursue other activities.
Were the escape games in any way connected to what you studied at university?
Not at first sight, but, in the end, I used escape games in my final paper. I studied in a five-year programme in Information Management at the Hradec Králové University. In the end, I made use of my entrepreneurial phase and followed the marketing plan of a selected company – the company I chose was my own. In this way, I was able to use real data and a precise advertising budget or evaluate which marketing methods worked.
At the same time, you are the author of the video channel Super Trendy. What made you become a YouTuber?
It is fun and my hobby, I love creative things. My role models are the Swedish YouTuber PewDiePie: I find it fascinating how his work has transformed. From a man who shrugs his shoulders while playing computer games, he has developed into a personality that films, for example, inspirational videos about life in Japan. I realised that I, too, could try to talk about area that interest me. I wanted to create something digital and whether anyone would enjoy my content was of secondary interest to me.
Your most popular videos have had over half a million views and are about pop culture, for example, Marvel comics. Who is your favourite superhero?
I like Spider Man the most, because his story is the closest to regular people. A teenager at secondary school who is not quite sure what to do with himself. I was able to relate to him; it’s only too bad that I don’t have his spider powers.
Superheroes and Cars
In his spare time, Ondřej Česák pursues popular culture and superhero films. His YouTube channel Super Trendy has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers, with videos about popular comic book characters such as Deadpool, Hulk, and Thanos. Some of these characters have a very close relationship with cars, which are related to Ondřej’s work at Škoda Auto. “As a kid, I enjoyed watching, for example, the cartoon Nascar Race which included technical aspects of cars. I am sure that Tony Stark or Iron Man, who also collected the most expensive car models, could build an excellent car,” says the IT business analyst for process automation.
Were you, like Peter Parker alias Spider-Man, – confused, taking various part-time jobs – or did you always know precisely what you wanted to do when you grow up?
I did not have an absolutely clear vision, because it clashed somewhat with what my parents wanted me to do. They used to have a kitchen studio, so, at weekends, I helped Dad install kitchens. Mum, on the other hand, wanted me to become a doctor. But I was really into building computers and installing things. Over time, I started to design, recommend, and build hardware for my friends. That is in part why I ended up studying information management, I was attracted to analytics.
Have you been into cars since childhood, or did you find your way to them only over time?
There was always one little thing that interested me in them: as a child, I did not follow technical specifications, I noticed the appearance of the rear lights. I am still fascinated by how one can immediately identify the make on that basis. Škoda has very typical lights, whereas I can tell an Audi even at night, based on the outlines of its lights. That is to say, I enjoyed cars mainly from the design point of view.
Why then did you decide for the automobile industry?
I recall that once, in Pardubice, someone was handing out fliers and promotional items bearing the sign Škoda Career. I thanked them and took a keychain. At that time, I was working at a non-banking organisation, where I liked the team but not the product itself. When I was considering a change some time later, I pulled out the keychain, which I had been carrying in my pocket for several years, and decided to check out the options at Škoda. The brand has an established name, and you can see its cars everywhere. So, the keychain became very effective subliminal advertisement.
You joined the company going directly in your current position. What exactly does it involve?
I work as an IT business analyst for process automation, and I also deal with SAP systems. My task is mapping processes within the company from the business point of view and to suggest ways to set them up more efficiently using the technologies available.
Can you describe your regular workday?
I have several meetings planned, many of which pertain to process presentation. Our customer describes a routine manual activity to us, and together we evaluate whether automation using our technologies would be appropriate. We analyse everything in detail and usually present to the customer the three main things that we would need – how much time the implementation will take, what skills are required, and how much money he needs to prepare.
You work with data analysis. Do you notice how data changes in a historical context?
Yes, you can see a huge transformation at Škoda. When Laurin and Klement established the company in 1895, they managed completely without any data. They made do with a pencil, paper, and manual skills. Rapid development followed, and over time Škoda Auto has been adding Digital aspects. These include mobile applications, sensors, etc. Data volumes grow exponentially every year, and even though our primary product is still a physical car, rather than a virtual product, we cannot make do without them.
Do you see Škoda Auto today not only as a car company, but also a technology company?
Definitely. I do not come into contact with some technologies at all, because they are used by other departments, but I do note the immense technological progress as we discuss them at official presentations as well as during encounters at the coffee machine. Our company is increasingly flexible. Even when someone is hired as a programmer, in a year, he can decide to take up a different specialisation across the company. We have, for example, very interesting teams working with virtual reality.
Current trends in the virtual environment include machine learning and artificial intelligence. Are they fundamentally related to your profession?
In process automation, we come into contact with artificial intelligence only occasionally. Our department is right at the start of the chain. I try to automate data acquisition and reduce the hours of downloading or clicking in the SAP system. But we also have specialised teams working on machine learning. I personally use ChatGPT when I quickly need to sort out my notes or to gather tips about what to ask applicants during job interviews. An analyst can use these technologies as the basis for his work, but that is all they can do for him at this time.
Immortal Excel
Microsoft launched its spreadsheet software Excel in 1990. According to an AppMagic survey, it is still one of the six most widely used applications of the US technology company. It is used on a daily basis at Škoda Auto, as well, which is no surprise to Ondřej Česák. When he lectures at university, he sometimes gives his students a simple riddle: What can save, calculate, and visualise data?
“At Škoda, Excel was the first user-friendly tool for working with data. When one has been using it efficiently for over twenty years, I don’t see why one should switch over to a different technology,” notes the IT business analyst for process automation.
Even though he himself appreciates Excel, he also recommends new technologies that make working with data far easier. “As soon as we complete a project, our customer’s eyes shine. Until then, he could not imagine that he would not have to download data and could simply comment on the results and have plenty of time left for other work.”
In addition to the SAP system (Systems, Applications, and Products), you also used DAP (Data Analysis Platform) in data processing. What is it good for?
When we obtain data and want to replace Excel, we transfer the computing logic to the DAP interface. You can imagine it as a cloud database space to which we add data, and we can then write procedures over them in query languages. Their advantage lies in that we can preserve this data there, so that a regular user could not “break” them as easily as in Excel, for example.
Is Microsoft Excel becoming an obsolete technology or do analysts still swear by it?
Excel is like fire – a good servant but a poor master. Relying solely on Excel is not good. For example, at the FCP department alone – which is responsible for financial controlling of production – tens of thousands of Excel files are used for management and reporting. It will be possible to eliminate or automate many of them in the future; it will save us time in data mining and their conversion into information. I currently use, for example, Power BI for visualisations. But even after all these years, Excel is an excellent tool for ad hoc analyses and basic functions.
ONDŘEJ ČESÁK
process automation specialist
He studied Information Management at Hradec Králové University. He still goes back to his alma mater to give lectures in the discipline in which he is making a living.
“I enjoy that, thanks to our company, I can talk about data and process automation at universities. I have gone back to my home university but also lectured at the University of Economics in Prague, for example,” adds Ondřej Česák.
He has been pursuing data analysis since the middle of the last decade, but he has been around computers since childhood. He has always been interested in computers and, since 2017, his hobbies have included creating videos about interesting things in popular culture. His channel Super Trendy has nearly one hundred thousand subscribers. The things he enjoys about the position of IT business analyst for process automation at Škoda Auto include the flexibility and diversity of his work.