Not long ago, Target’s legendary chief information officer Mike McNamara announced his intent to retire. He would stay on through the naming of his successor. That successor has been found, as Brett Craig has been elevated to the executive vice president and CIO role at the company. He has been with the company for roughly 14 years, and he has held roles in technology and in merchandising among other business areas. His penultimate role was as the senior vice president of digital.
“The updates we’re making to our leadership team reflect the size and scale of our more than $100 billion business, while also positioning the company for continued momentum well into the future,” Target’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Cornell noted. “I have tremendous confidence in [the company’s new leaders, Craig among them] and the value they bring to our organization as we work together to meet the needs of current and new Target guests.”
“This is a chance to work with thousands of world-class technologists building products and platforms that impact millions of people every day,” said Craig. “Our tech, data sciences and cybersecurity teams are simply doing an incredible job enabling Target’s strategy and advancing everything we do in service to our purpose. That’s a journey we’re going to accelerate, and Target’s culture of care, grow and win together will lead the way. How Target tech and our teams work together across the company is one of the most unique differentiators of our success.”
When reflecting on some of the areas that he will push hard to accelerate in the near term, Craig noted more personalized, relevant and seamless experiences for Target’s guests and creating new offerings that will drive more business to the company’s stores, Target.com and the Target app.
McNamara will stay on board as a strategic advisor to the company through the end of January 2023.
Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has written two bestselling books, and his third, Getting to Nimble, was recently released. He also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.
As we recently passed the two anniversary of the pandemic, necessitating those of us who could work remotely to primarily do so, quite a bit has changed. Some companies have begun to return to office work on a hybrid basis, and roughly three-quarters of companies suggest that the path forward will be hybrid.
Whereas in 2019 and years prior, all work was assumed to primarily take place in an office, now there is optionality. Employees have different visions for what works best for them. Whereas one employee may long for more work in the office, others never wish to step foot in an office again, avoiding commutes and maximizing time with family in the process. These differences of opinion run the risk of creating conflict. To alleviate that possibility, a framework can be helpful. That framework can guide employees to determine together when to work in an office. With that in mind, here are five Cs to determine when work is best done together in an office:
A team may choose to connect when team members from different cities happen to be in the same city. This offers opportunities to bond, to break bread and to share experiences.
Connection may also come in the form of a firm gathering. Especially for firms where most work will be done virtually, outside of the confines of an office, some have elected to have all firm gatherings or department gatherings either in a city where an office hub exists or at a destination, such a Miami during the winter or a hiking destination during the summer. These are opportunities for connection that bond teams together. Colleagues can get to know each other outside of the work setting, and the next gathering may be the light at the end of the tunnel that keeps them looking forward to time with the firm.
Given the emphasis on virtual work over the past two years, there has been much call to evaluate where creative collaboration is best done. Most research suggests that when teams are called upon to create they do so best in person. Though online tools such as Miro and Mural offer worthy alternatives to the traditional white board, brainstorming in the same room together continues to offer greater chances to catch lightning in a bottle and draw out the best ideas for the company. True creation often entails developing something new. This might be a new innovative product, for example. Again, bringing together a cross-functional team in the same room where each can easily hear from each other, note all that is happening, and the like is the fastest path to success.
The office setting is often best suited for collaboration beyond creation, as well. One can think about a linear path in the collaboration process. As a new project or initiative is identified, the kickoff may best done in person. This collaboration can help mete out a plan, determine who will be responsible for what, and what sub-teams might collaborate on which details. There will likely be a period where individuals will have solo work to accomplish before the next collaboration is necessary. Thus, through the life of the initiative, it will be appropriate to work independently for a period and then to collaborate in person together. This can be a force multiplier to productivity, as during periods where independent work is appropriate, one can avoid the commute, perhaps leveraging a bit of the time that would have been spent doing so to drive the independent work to its conclusion.
At a time when so many people are leaving jobs as part of the so-called great resignation, it is all the more important to invest in one’s people. Better coaching, counseling, and career planning are key investments to make. An in person meeting is often best to read reactions to guidance provided, praise given, and constructive criticism proffered. These are conversations where trust can be won or lost, and it is best to be in person for more of them, if possible. Ironically, it is often the youngest members of our teams who appreciate the importance of in person career planning least but benefit the most from such guidance. It must be proven to them that these conversations are worth their while with the results that they might garner from more explicit planning sessions.
Last among these factors is the need to celebrate together. During the period of virtual work primarily, where meetings tended to stick to agendas that fit in 30 or 60 minute windows and then each team member spread like seeds to the next series of meetings with other people, many took for granted the need to celebrate all that we accomplish along the way. When a project concludes, when promotions are announced, when quarterly earnings are made public, among many reasons to possibly celebrate, taking the opportunity to do so forges bonds, while also making explicit the accomplishments of the team.
None of this is to say that these five activities can only happen in offices. None should wait for everyone to be in the same place at the same time to happen, of course, but in the balance, these are activities that are best done in the office. The framework is clarifying. It articulates a means of cutting through conflicting opinions of whether to meet in person or not. One can imagine colleagues debating whether an activity should be done virtually or if it rises to the level to warrant a trip into the office. One could determine if the activity aligns with the categories given, and if so, make the call to do so. Hybrid work is tricky as we have the unleveling of the playing field in earnest, but by setting up some simple ground rules together with sound explanations of why the path has been chosen will ensure that you are building trust across the team for the long term.
Monday, Boeing announced that Ted Colbert has been named president and chief executive officer of its Defense, Space and Security business. This move will take effect on April 1. Colbert succeeds Leanne Caret who is retiring following nearly 35 years with Boeing. Colbert had been president and CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS). Stephanie Pope has been appointed as his successor in that role.
Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security business provides military aircraft and network and space systems to customers around the world, and earned revenues of $26.5 billion in 2021. As such, this is the company’s largest business unit by revenue.
“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong and innovative leadership to every position he has held,” said Boeing president and CEO Dave Calhoun. “Under his leadership, BGS has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe and high-quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead BDS.”
Colbert joined Boeing’s information technology department in 2009, rising to the role of chief information officer in 2013 and to the role of CIO and senior vice president of Information Technology & Data Analytics in 2016. It was in that role that Colbert won Forbes CIO Innovation Award in 2018 for the development of a digital flight deck. In May of 2021, Colbert joined the board of ADM, the $85 billion revenue multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation, as well.
Colbert’s expanded responsibilities from CIO to CIO-plus to beyond CIO to board-level executive has him in an exclusive but growing club of former CIOs who have expanded their responsibilities.
This past weekend marked the two-year anniversary of our living in quarantine. For those who had the option to work remotely, most made the move on roughly March 13 or 16. For a while, many executives bruised their shoulders as they vigorously patted themselves on the back for having successfully transitioned from in-office work to virtual work in March of 2020. They expected major issues, but fewer than expected arose. Of course, this is not to minimize the dramatic increase in cyberattacks that spawned as the threat landscape moved from offices to people’s homes, for example, but most businesses had employees who traveled, working from client sites, hotel rooms, on flights, and in a variety of other settings. This had been the case for years, and companies’ tools supported this model, for the most part.
What has begun to emerge as hybrid work begins in earnest for many companies will be much more difficult. Let’s begin with optionality. Prior to March 2020, 95% or more of all work was done in offices. Though business trips were a regularity for many, one’s primary work was done in an office. Therefore, switching jobs meant switching from one office to another and it would often necessitate moving from one city to another. There was not a lot of optionality in that scenario. Requests to primarily work remotely were easily rebuffed because it was not the norm.
In March of 2020, if you were in a job that could be done remotely, you did not have an option. You worked remotely for your own safety, the safety of your loved ones and the safety of your colleagues. Therefore, the playing field went from being largely even to, in some cases, more even, as everyone was remote rather than having some straggler business travelers dialing in to a group meeting in a conference room, say.
What has begun and will continue in earnest in 2022 will be the unleveling of the playing field. As offices open up, some are drawn to them and others are repelled from them. The employee in an efficient apartment with a spouse and a young child cannot wait to get back to an office full-time. The colleague who has a large house with a dedicated workspace separate from distractions may not ever want to commute again. Every flavor in between can also be found among an employee base. What approach will work best for productivity? What approach will work best for employee morale? What approach will amplify culture in the right way?
The future is likely to be hybrid. Most companies agree with this, and most are acting upon that hypothesis. That said, as a leader, whatever the going in hypotheses you have about the complexion of the future of work, it is critical to note that some will be wrong. Prepare your team for this inevitable conclusion. Two disciplines that must be focal are change management and communications. The former recognizes that changes will need to continue to happen and have a strong discipline in place to facilitate that change will be necessary. The latter ensures that formal and informal communications are in place to continue to provide updates to employees on what is working, what is not, what might be tested next, why, and so forth. It is best to err on the side of more rather than less communication during times of great change and uncertainty.
The last thing you want to do is go through any one-way doors in the decisions you make. If you tell employees that they will never have to come back into an office again, this will be difficult to walk back if the data and your company’s performance languish because of this decision. You will have given your employees a right that they will not take kindly to losing. Even if you are inclined to try virtual-only work beyond the period in which it is necessary for health reasons, best not to call it out as the solution for the long-term but rather that the company reserves the right to tinker with the model as time passes if the situation dictates.
Employees’ opinions should also be weighed throughout, of course. Many executives did not adequately take this point into consideration as initial plans were laid out relative to what the future of work might entail, and many paid the consequences in higher attrition rates. Engaging employees to understand what works best for them and why is a prudent measure to take, even if it is impossible to make everyone happy with the conclusions that will be made. The extent to which the communications plans can be frequent, transparent and bi-directional, all the better.
One must also lean on one’s ecosystem for insight. We are all going through these experiments at present, and if you poll ten executives at ten different firms about what the future of work will entail, no two will be exactly alike and some will be dramatically different. Remain in close contact with your ecosystem to understand what is working and why, what is not, and why, and judge your plans against what you learn. You may stick to your plans in the face of some of this data, but it is important to be open to changing your mind.
Lastly, as employees leave, and they will, of course, evaluate why they are doing so. Are your policies at all a consideration? Is the company an employee is leaving to join offering some sort of benefit or way of working that you might consider. This data is crucial to ensure that a trickle of departures does not become a flood.
The months ahead will be treacherous, but by forming a plan, continuing to test plans and developing open and honest dialogues with employees, a better future can be defined.
In 2015, when Mike McNamara received a call from a headhunter that Target, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based nearly $100 billion revenue retailer was interested in having him come aboard as the company’s next chief information officer, he had one question: where is Minneapolis? McNamara is a native of Ireland, and he received the call when he was in the throes of a distinguished tenure as the CIO of Tesco in the UK. As he delved deeper into this opportunity, he realized this was the same Target that had had a notorious cybersecurity breach. The company was also just coming off an unsuccessful entry into the Canadian market, as well. Given this introduction, what attracted McNamara to leave his company for another much farther from home?
“The downside when you looked at it was that there was a business that lacked confidence in itself, but the upside was that you have this phenomenal brand, and you had a business that was brilliantly run financially, so a balance sheet to die for,” said McNamara. “Then they had a tremendous body of highly capable people.” He reconned that this was a case of a company that had slightly lost its way, but the ingredients for a remarkable rebirth were there, given its human and financial resources.
Part of McNamara’s reputation was built based on a remarkable digital transformation at Tesco, which included industry leading ecommerce capabilities. As such, he knew that Target’s future also had to be digital. Target had under-invested in digital capabilities prior to his tenure, but the impetus for his hiring was a recognition that this needed to change.
Like so many companies in the middle of last decade, Target had outsourced significant parts of its IT. “When I began at Target, 70% of the team was outsourced… [First, we had to ensure that] we were only doing work that was of value strategically to the organization. Second, we [had to] build up our own engineering capability in-house with a focus on the team. Then third, [we had to modernize] our architecture.” McNamara underscored this last point noting that architecture was the key to his vision. “The reality is nobody can predict the future,” he noted. “I couldn’t predict what was going to happen over the ensuing six years when I joined and clearly, a lot of things did happen, including the pandemic, which nobody saw coming. What was important was to start building an architecture that would be scalable, stable, secure, but agile, [giving the company] speed.”
This began a journey that would take the IT team from being 70% outsourced to 93% insourced today. By developing a strong stable of technical talent, he had a much stronger foundation upon which to build. That included investing in data and analytics to a much greater degree. The journey that was created led to talent being attracted to join for the next phases. His team now boasts having roughly 400 engineers dedicated to data science, and another roughly 200 mathematicians. These talented technologists have been among the keys to Target’s success across the past six plus years.
Target can now us artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend products based on searches, to aid demand forecasting and ordering and all along the supply chain. AI is used for workload planning, assortment planning, pricing and promotion of products. It is also used for smaller initiatives such as investigating the quality of imagery that the company puts on the website, or to correct errors in item set up.
McNamara has been a CIO long enough that he has seen the role fundamentally change from an efficiency driver focused mostly on the internal operations to a money maker for the enterprise. “[Today, IT is] about selling stuff far more than it is about moving stuff, which it was in the past in retail,” McNamara said. “It has completely changed over the course of my career. That engineering capability was important to build that up.” He went on to say that DevOps and the migration from a project orientation to a product orientation have also been great growth catalysts for technology and digital divisions in retail and beyond.
Speaking of the product orientation, McNamara’s commitment to it was complete. “We moved the entire team into a product structure overnight,” he emphasized. “Then we burned our bridges behind us by releasing all the project managers, program managers, and business analysts. Then we got on with making it work, which might sound a wee bit cavalier, but it wasn’t. We backed it up with a ton of training.” Today, his team focuses on a couple of hundred products across the business, each of which has a release either daily or weekly. He noted that the only limit to the speed of these releases was the ability of the business and customers to absorb the change.
The pandemic changed the buying habits of many, and Target’s ability to lean on digital revenue streams and digital experiences proved to be a remarkable advantage. Here an analogy was helpful. McNamara was used to the need to scale up digital at the time of Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year that falls on the Monday following Thanksgiving. “We already had the ability to scale our systems to that kind of capacity, so that was relatively straightforward,” noted McNamara. “We also had to produce new applications and new features and functions both for our guests and our business at a phenomenal rate.” In essence, McNamara ran the Cyber Monday playbook throughout the year.
An example of an innovation that was necessary due to the health concerns of the pandemic was the limited number of people allowed in a store at any one time. It was critical that the company remain compliant with this. Many companies resorted to having team members stand at the doors and take a manual tally using click counters to determine who was coming in and who was going out. McNamara and his team developed an app powered using artificial intelligence that was installed over the entrance and exit doors of stores. The app kept an up-to-date count of how many people were in stores. That app took a week to produce and two weeks to roll out nationally.
A key to this remarkably rapid response was having the engineering team in house. “Having that engineering team in house without the handoffs, having a product structure that manages the backlog, and then having an agile architecture [all made the difference],” said McNamara. “There is no way Target would have had the standout year we had last year had we not invested in the capability in the team and the definition of the architecture.”
It has been announced that McNamara is months away from his retirement from Target. This will bring to an end one of the more remarkable CIO careers, but his history of transforming a retail stalwart into a digital leader will live on as his legacy.
Salesforce has announced the hiring of Juan Perez as its next chief information officer, succeeding Jo-ann Olsovsky, who held the role for four years. Perez, a past Forbes CIO Innovation Award winner, spent more than 32 years at UPS, his last five as the company’s chief information and engineering officer. He will assume his new role on April 4, 2022. Like Olsovsky, who joined the company from BNSF Railway, Perez has experience at the scale that Salesforce aspires to, given the size of UPS.
“I am thrilled that Juan is joining Salesforce as CIO,” said Salesforce Co-CEO, Bret Taylor. “He has a deep understanding of how to leverage technology to drive growth and scale, and has a strong track record of building impactful, high-performing teams. He’s also been a Salesforce customer since 2015 and deeply understands our technology and our values. I could not be more excited to partner with Juan in this next chapter of Salesforce’s growth.”
“Everything about Salesforce — the people, values, innovation and customer focus — all deeply resonate with me and align with my values,” said Perez. “After more than 30 years at UPS, I never thought I’d pursue a new career — but joining Salesforce is an honor and the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Perez has been a board member of The Hershey Company for three years, as well, and as such is part of a rare but growing group of board-level CIOs. His predecessor, Olsovsky, is also part of that club, as she is a board member of Canadian National Railway.
From inflation to the war in Ukraine and the ongoing effects of COVID-19, a perfect storm of economic, social, and geopolitical disruptions has increased uncertainty for business leaders. Building on research and insights from technology executives across industries, Metis Strategy has identified five actions leaders can take to navigate that uncertainty in the months ahead:
Recent downgrades to economic forecasts suggest an economic decline is on the way (indeed, some argue that it has already begun). In July, the International Monetary Fund released an updated global economic outlook which forecasted growth to slow to 3.2% in 2022, down an additional 0.4% from its April forecast and sitting at just above half of the 6.1% growth from 2021. The IMF cited the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, and tighter monetary policy among the key drivers behind the decline. In the U.S., inflation continues to rise, recently surpassing 9% to reach a 40-year high. Additionally, interest rate hikes to tame inflation are already underway by the U.S. Federal Reserve. With so many economic factors at play, uncertainty will be the only constant for the time being. As such, contingency planning and risk management in decision making will be vital to long-term success.
Multi-scenario planning allows decision makers to identify potential outcomes and the likely predictors of each to ensure that the organization is ready to act quickly no matter what comes to pass. Companies must not place too much emphasis on small data variations, as this course of action will not necessarily yield the best results given the array of factors at play. Rather than try to predict or plan for each incremental interest rate hike, for example, leaders instead should prepare for a combination of possible economic conditions: inflation and a recession, inflation and economic growth, stagflation, and so on.
By pursuing macro-level planning for multiple scenarios, organizations will better be able to see the shifting landscape and make timely adjustments rather than wavering due to “paralysis by analysis.”
New work models demand new infrastructure. That sentiment has never been as profound as it was over the past two and a half years as CIOs facilitated a massive shift to remote work. Today, those CIOs face a mandate to enable productive work in a hybrid environment.
As hybrid work models become the norm, it is time for CIOs to focus once again on their organization’s long-term agenda. Corporations know that the pace of change in technology has never been as quick as it is today, and at the same time will never be this slow again. With over 70% of organizations pursuing a flexible or hybrid work model, companies must invest in infrastructure, training, and culture to provide teams with the tools they need and ensure a strong and collaborative environment across more flexible work models.
That requires giving people the tools and skills they need to navigate the uncertainty that lies ahead. Upskilling and reskilling programs are some of the most prominent ways to do this. A LinkedIn study found that 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invests in their learning. This has manifested itself in many ways at insurance giant MetLife, which launched a digital academy for employees to develop technically. The company has also worked to foster a culture in which employees feel empowered to achieve their career aspirations, Bill Pappas, MetLife’s Head of Technology and Operations, said in a recent episode of the Technovation podcast. Part of developing a strong hybrid model includes investing in the necessary tools, from collaboration platforms to cloud infrastructure, that enable teams to work productively from wherever they are.
Every organization must define its own version of a sustainable work model, including how to attract and retain employees, and how to nurture the desired culture. As old work operating models are redefined and new ones are implemented, investments in people and infrastructure that enable digital dexterity, paired with an increased focus on cultivating culture, will be key differentiators for organizations’ long-term success.
Supply chain challenges brought on by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, among other factors, have exposed the fragility of global trade networks, which have seen relatively little disruption over the past 30 years. The global economy’s reliance on Ukraine and Russia for crucial commodities such as oil, wheat, and neon (used in chip manufacturing) has hurt national economies and small businesses alike. The war also has disrupted both air cargo routes and sea shipments, driving up wait times and prices. Trade restrictions (such as sanctions and tariffs) and weakening trust between countries further compound those challenges. Increasingly, companies are questioning whether global supply chains will be as beneficial as it has been in the past.
Consequently, executives are re-assessing the viability of relationships with suppliers both foreign and domestic. Decision-makers may benefit from diversifying their supplier portfolios, possibly favoring those that are more geographically proximate and located in more politically stable countries to further help prepare and protect against future disruptions. Companies such as Intel and General Motors, for example, are building new manufacturing capabilities within the U.S. to decrease their dependency on suppliers in Asia. However, the decision to regionalize varies widely across organizations and industries, and many economists, academics, and executives are speculating about what the next decade holds. Professor Willy C. Shih of Harvard Business School argues that regional supply chain blocs may be the future of international trade as organizations emphasize safer and more stable routes. Others contend the benefits of a global supply chain (i.e. reduced costs), will regain value and that a “transformational shift from global to regional business” is unlikely. The common factor across both theories (and many others) is that significant instability is likely to endure. That makes building supply chains with sufficient flexibility of paramount importance. Technology offers several avenues to achieve this.
Many organizations are turning to digital tools to boost supply chain resilience and transparency. Companies can leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to carry out risk analysis of supply chain patterns in real-time. Autonomous planning, for example, allows organizations to increase supply chain efficiency and decrease necessary human involvement. Enterprise resource planning upgrades and advanced track-and-trace solutions also offer more visibility into the movement of goods and can help mitigate risk. Furthermore, emerging technologies such as blockchain, autonomous mobile robots, and 3D printing may offer additional benefits from the warehouse floor to a product’s final destination.
Cybersecurity remains a priority for all members of the executive suite. Last year saw a record number of data compromises, up 68% from 2020 with an average cost of a staggering $4.24 million per breach. Roughly 65% of respondents in Foundry’s 2022 State of The CIO study said current socioeconomic pressures have further boosted the importance of increasing cybersecurity, and cyber has been noted as the CEO’s top priority for IT in 2022.
The increasing volume of digital interactions has led to a dramatic rise in the likelihood of breaches and the cost of protection. Facing a threat landscape that is evolving faster than ever, organizations should act quickly to re-evaluate company polices, assess risk management strategy, and bolster both internal and external security practices. This requires a mindset shift in how security is viewed. Traditionally viewed purely as a cost center, organizations must view cybersecurity as a critical piece of the enterprise risk mitigation strategy. Today, businesses must continuously update their cybersecurity practices to reduce the risk of becoming a target and ensure they can respond quickly if or when they face an attack.
Technology leaders should communicate clearly to C-level peers and boards about how risk is being managed. At the same time, it’s important to continue developing strong cybersecurity hygiene at all levels of the organization and to disincentivize unsafe behaviors. Security policies should be evaluated and updated regularly to ensure that they are keeping up with changing times. Regardless of what specific technologies an organization pursues, it must accompany the mindset shift to cybersecurity ultimately as a risk mitigator and cost saver, rather than just a cost center.
Environment, social, and governance initiatives (ESG) have been on the rise for the past several years. Individuals are becoming increasingly concerned not only with working for a company that is actively pursuing ESG initiatives, but also in purchasing from one. This trend shows no signs of slowing down.
It is critical that organizations clearly communicate actions and results of ESG efforts to the public. Historically, however, ESG goals have not always had clear or easily obtainable data and metrics. Technology is making that job easier. Connected devices, for example, can conduct remote diagnostics of buildings, enabling “smart buildings” and helping to minimize their carbon footprint. CIOs can lead the charge on ESG initiatives by identifying key results that IT can deliver, weaving ESG into an organization’s broader digital strategy, and rallying support across the organization to ensure progress on ESG initiatives is fully realized.
The global business environment is in a period of transition. Leaders must use this time to ensure their organizations can respond in a nimble fashion to unexpected changes and not only survive, but thrive, no matter what the future holds. This requires a holistic look across people, process, technology, ecosystems, and strategy and, in many cases, willingness across the enterprise to transform operating models and ditch traditional ways of working. Technology leaders can be at the forefront of this shift, pairing their expertise in digital with a focus on operational excellence to drive sustainable change across the enterprise.
Our next Digital Symposium is just around the corner. Join us on September 8 as industry leaders and technology executives share their perspectives on fostering innovative cultures, innovating during dynamic times, and creating new digital pathways to reach customers, among other topics.
CIOs and other technology leaders, register here to reserve your spot today. We look forward to seeing you!
(Click here for highlights from our most recent Digital Symposium, and stay tuned to our YouTube channel for videos of our panel discussions.)
12:00 – 12:10 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Welcome and introduction to the Metis Strategy team.
Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
12:10 – 12:25 p.m.
Fireside Chat: Gabe Dalporto, Chief Executive Officer, Udacity
Gabe Dalporto, Chief Executive Officer, Udacity
Moderated by Peter High, President, Metis Strategy
12:25 – 12:50 p.m.
Data & Analytics as a Source of Resilience and Growth
Vinod Bidarkoppa; SVP, Walmart; Chief Technology Officer, Sam’s Club
Susan Doniz, Chief Information Officer and SVP of IT & Data Analytics, Boeing
12:50 – 1:05 p.m.
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Orion Hindawi, Co-Founder & CEO, Tanium
Orion Hindawi, Co-Founder & CEO, Tanium
1:05 – 1:20 p.m.
Fireside Chat: Chandra Dhandapani; Chief Executive Officer, Global Workplace Solutions; CBRE
Chandra Dhandapani; Chief Executive Officer, Global Workplace Solutions; CBRE
1:20 – 1:35 p.m.
Fireside Chat: Kevin Stine, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Kevin Stine, Chief of the Applied Cybersecurity Division, NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory (ITL)
1:35 – 2:00 p.m.
Transforming a Global IT Operating Model
Ash Banerjee, Global Chief Information Officer, Dentons
Anil Bhatt, Global Chief Information Officer, Elevance Health
Moderated by Michael Bertha, Vice President & Central Office Lead, Metis Strategy
2:00 – 2:25 p.m.
Creating Innovative Sustainable Business Models
Frank Cassulo, Chief Digital Officer, Chevron
Bhavani Amirthalingam, Chief Digital Information Officer, Ameren
Moderated by Chris Davis, Partner & West Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
2:25 – 2:50 p.m.
Driving Strategic IT Modernization Efforts
Marykay Wells, Chief Information Officer, Pearson
Carman Wenkoff, Chief Information Officer, Dollar General
Moderated by Steven Norton; Co-Head Executive Networks, Research, and Media; Metis Strategy
2:50 – 3:00 p.m.
Closing remarks and adjourn
Click here for highlights from our last Digital Symposium, or view the panel discussions on YouTube. We look forward to seeing you!
Thanks to all who attended the Metis Strategy Digital Symposium. Amid a backdrop of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, technology leaders highlighted the need for increased agility as their organizations implement new ways of working and develop technology-led business models. Collaborating more than ever with peers in the C-suite, CIOs today are using data and digital tools to deliver continuous value to customers and to evolve product and service offerings as customer needs and expectations change.
Below are highlights from the event. Stay tuned to the Metis Strategy YouTube channel and Technovation podcast in the coming weeks for full recordings of individual panel discussions.
Technology becomes key to understanding the customer journey
At our February event, attendees noted that customer centricity has been the biggest driver of impact and performance at their organizations. That trend continues as new technology-led business models create opportunities for organizations to better understand customer journeys and deliver continuous value. Mamatha Chamarthi, Head of Software Business and Product Management P&L at Stellantis, explained how the automotive industry’s shift to software-defined vehicles has given the organization a chance to understand the customer journey from pre-sale to ownership while providing opportunities to deliver on-demand features and continuous updates past the point of a vehicle’s production. By transitioning the business model from a one-time purchase to a services and subscription model, Chamarthi’s team is able to generate a recurring revenue stream and deliver continuous, personalized value to customers.
Ather Williams, EVP and Head of Strategy, Digital, and Innovation at Wells Fargo, is navigating a massive change in the financial services industry as customers increasingly adopt digital and mobile platforms and seek new experiences in how they manage their finances. That has driven a mindset shift internally as leaders place greater emphasis on customer journeys.
In an age where customers have higher expectations about their digital experiences than ever before, organizations must adopt an agile mindset so that they can evolve with their customers and take a customer-focused view of value delivery, said Prakash Kota, CIO at Autodesk. Technology teams increasingly look at problems with a customer lens rather than an engineering lens, thinking about where there are opportunities to remove friction.
Training programs aim to build skills, foster new mindsets
To remain competitive in the product-oriented digital future, companies will require leaders with a still-rare combination of business acumen, technology savvy, and leadership skills. To develop “bilingual experts” who are equally comfortable with business and technology and who reflexively think about how technology can be used to create new capabilities, Vipin Gupta, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer at Toyota Financial Services, established the TFS Digital Academy. The program aims not only to equip participants with needed IT skills, but also to embrace a product mindset and think about the how the company’s financial services capabilities can be continually assembled and improved.
While fostering a digital mindset is essential, so is ensuring teams have the necessary skills to take advantage of new technologies. This remains a challenge. More than 35% of attendees said a lack of needed skills was the biggest challenge to adopting cloud, for example. To address the skills shortage and foster a market for new talent, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian noted that the company has committed to train 40 million developers with hands-on skills training and certification opportunities.
Leaders take an ecosystem approach to innovation
Gone are the days in which corporate innovation happened in a silo. Today, the ability to innovate is an enterprise-wide imperative, and leaders are eager to explore the ways in which technology can deliver new and surprising value. Technology leaders play the role of strategic influencer in this new innovation ecosystem, identifying new opportunities, engaging colleagues and partners, and aligning innovation activities with the broader corporate strategy.
At Land O’Lakes, Chief Technology Officer Teddy Bekele is creating a “farm-to-fork” innovation ecosystem. By using technology as a backbone to achieve the company’s mission to feed a growing population, Bekele seeks opportunities to “excite the value chain” and develop ideas that can positively impact stakeholders across the business. “If technology isn’t driving value in the business, we’re just a cost center,” Bekele said. At Land O’Lakes, technology is now the center of the business, and product teams are focused on delivering tangible impact.
Innovation has allowed technology leaders to gain more strategic influence in the C-suite as well. At Thermo Fisher, Chief Information Officer Ryan Snyder works closely with the company’s CEO and the Chief Strategy Officer to make sure initiatives his team are passionate about get woven into the company’s strategy. Innovation needs to be “super connected to strategy being set by company leadership,” he said, and the approach to innovation must be aligned with where the company is heading.
Economic and geopolitical upheaval sharpen focus on resilience, risk reduction
Facing economic challenges, geopolitical uncertainty, and ongoing supply chain constraints, companies are turning to technology to drive operational efficiency, reduce risk, and build resilience across the organization. CIOs across industries noted that they are digitizing supply chain operations for greater visibility, leveraging analytics to better understand customers, and re-evaluating global talent footprints.
In a poll, more than half of attendees noted they are exploring new locations for talent both domestically and abroad, and nearly 30% said they were outsourcing more talent to locations where their organizations have an existing presence. Chris Drumgoole, Chief Operating Officer at DXC Technology, said the company is discussing ways to reduce single-country risk and has placed increasing focus on resilience across operations.
“Operationalizing culture” becomes a competitive advantage
As technology leaders take on expanded roles in the C-suite, tangible value delivery and operational excellence take on even greater importance. Jeff Smith, Chief Operating Officer at World Fuel Services, remarked that the only unique attribute about a company is its culture, and that competitive advantage can be gained by learning how to operationalize it. To achieve this, Smith’s team defined 30 cultural practices, the majority of which could be scaled globally. He created measurements for both operations and leadership, conducted leadership maturity assessments, and even created a “Bureaucracy Mass Index” showing the ratio of leaders and managers to “doers.”
Chris Drumgoole of DXC noted the increased adoption of more customer-focused metrics over traditional IT metrics in order to better understand the customer experience. The company sends a Net Promoter Score survey out each month that creates a regular flow of feedback and data. He and Smith both underscored the need for clear-eyed, tangible metrics – that which gets measured gets done – and to embrace opportunities for continuous improvement.
Our next Digital Symposium is just around the corner. Join us on May 19 as industry leaders and technology executives share their perspectives on fostering innovative cultures, scaling transformation initiatives, and navigating geopolitical uncertainty, among other topics.
11:00 – 11:10 a.m.
11:10-11:30 a.m.
Conversation with former President of Mexico Vicente Fox
Pres. Vicente Fox, fmr. President, Mexico
11:30-11:50 a.m.
Building Talent for Digital Operating Models
Mamatha Chamarthi, Head of Software Business and Product Management P&L, Stellantis
Vipin Gupta, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, Toyota Financial Services
11:50 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Adyen
Pieter van der Does, CEO, Adyen
Kamran Zaki, COO, Adyen
12:05 – 12:20 p.m.
Fireside Chat: Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud
Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud
12:20 – 12:40 p.m.
The Journey from CIO to COO
Chris Drumgoole, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, DXC Technology
Jeff Smith, EVP & Chief Operating Officer, World Fuel Services
Moderated by Alex Kraus, Vice President & East Coast Lead, Metis Strategy
12:40 – 1:00 p.m.
Technology-led Business Model Innovation
Ather Williams III; EVP, Head of Strategy, Digital, and Innovation; Wells Fargo
Prakash Kota, Chief Information Officer, Autodesk
Moderated by Chris Davis, Vice President & West Coast Office Lead, Metis Strategy
1:00 – 1:20 p.m.
Innovation Ecosystems as a Source of Growth
Ryan Snyder, SVP & Chief Information Officer, Thermo Fisher
Teddy Bekele, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, Land O’Lakes
1:20 – 1:30 p.m.
