Tekion Founder & CEO Jay Vijayan provides an overview of the fragmented automotive industry, highlights the industry’s shortcomings, and describes how Tekoin is using advanced technology and their automotive retail cloud platform to create a win-win-win situation for the large OEMs [original equipment manufacturers], retailers, and consumers. Additionally, Jay discusses the importance of delivering a seamless customer experience, how his time as CIO of Tesla prepared him for his current role, Tekion’s global ambitions, among other topics.
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419: Arity President Gary Hallgren highlights the three main issues in the transportation industry. Most importantly, driving is extremely inefficient as the average car is used for four percent of the day. Further, 40,000 people die on the roads each year, and driving is extremely expensive, both in time and money. To make a difference in these areas, Arity is working with shared mobility companies, insurance companies, and automobile companies to solve these issues. We also discuss why Gary believes fully autonomous vehicles are further away than many think, how the company mixes the stability, strength, and resources of a Fortune 80 company with the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup, how Arity attracts talent, among other topics.
388: Volvo CDO/CIO Atif Rafiq discusses Volvo’s evolution into a mobility company. While Volvo has been around since 1927, the company’s executives’ first order of business is to define the future state of the company, which allows them to understand the ambition they need to fulfill. If a company can put together a plan to move towards that higher ambition, it will gain momentum, which builds on itself. Atif claims that once a global company has clarity on this aspect, it will have the necessary resources to chase that. We also discuss Atif’s focus on the customer experience, Volvo’s partnership with Silicon Valley firms, the company’s value proposition to potential employees, among other topics.
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385: Toyota (TMNA) CDO and Toyota Connected CEO Zack Hicks shares his vision for how technology will transform driving. As the CEO of Toyota Connected, Zack and his team use data to provide an enhanced and seamless driving experience. To do so, Zack is focused on removing friction points throughout the entire process by having 3rd party services integrate with Toyota’s technologies. He claims to be agnostic about who owns the experience, and that his only goal is to enable it. While he is focused on augmenting the driving experience, he asserts that full autonomy is still far in the future. We also discuss Zack’s experience as a board-level executive, his view on the future of autonomous vehicles, the benefits of containers and server-less technologies, among other topics.
Mike is a General Partner at Index Ventures, where he helped establish the firm’s San Francisco office. As a Partner, Mike is responsible for investing in early-stage companies, with a focus on open-source and SaaS companies.
Prior to Index Ventures, Mike was the Chief Executive Officer of Joost. Before Joost, Mike held multiple executive positions at Cisco Systems, most recently as Senior Vice President and GM of the Routing and Service Provider Group, and before that, as the company’s first Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Cisco, Mike worked as a Product Development Engineer at Hewlett-Packard.
Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Medical Engineering, his Master of Science in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, and his MBA from Stanford University.
Mike currently serves on the board of 16 public and private companies, including Fiat Chrysler.
Randy is the Senior Vice President of Global Information Technology and Chief Information Officer of General Motors, a Fortune 10 company with revenues exceeding $145 billion. As CIO, Randy is responsible for the global IT strategy and all the IT assets, and serves as a member of the executive leadership team. Since becoming CIO in 2012, Randy has lead a major transformation which has dramatically changed the company’s approach to IT.
Prior to joining General Motors, Randy served as the Executive Vice President and CIO of HP. Before joining HP, Randy spent six years at Dell where he was Senior Vice President and CIO. Earlier in his career, Randy spent 22 years at Walmart where he held many positions, eventually working his way up to Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.
Randy received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Randy serves on the Board of Directors for Dun & Bradstreet.
Among other topics, Jay discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Jay Rogers’ Biography
Jay is the Chief Executive Officer of Local Motors, a cutting-edge automotive startup building the next generation automobile company and brand in the United States. As CEO and Co-founder, he is responsible for crafting the overall strategy for Local Motors and has been helping develop transformation within the automotive industry.
Prior to founding Local Motors, Jay served for seven years in the United States Marine Corps, where he was an Infantry Company Commander. Prior to service, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. and as an investment analyst at Ewing & Partners.
Jay earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
I recently caught up with Jay over the phone from Local Motors headquarters in Phoenix, AZ, and our conversation covered World Class IT Principle Four, IT & Business Partnership, as we discussed how the Local Motors forms strategic partnerships with clients; and Principle Five, External Partnerships, as we discussed how Local Motors as created a community that drives innovation and efficiency. We also discussed how Local Motors has relied on transparency to build teams, Jay’s history in entrepreneurship, transformations in the automotive industry, as well as a variety of other topics.
Among other topics, Shamim discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
I recently caught up with Shamim in Richmond, Virginia and our conversation covered World Class IT Principle One, People, as we discussed the importance of attracting top digital IT talent; and Principle Four, IT & Business Partnership, as we discussed how CarMax’s development of product teams consisting of individuals from across various business units is driving innovation and execution across the organization. We also discussed current trends, how IT “open houses” provide insight and ownership of the IT function, and the focus on a seamless customer experience from online to instore, as well as a variety of other topics.
Among other topics, Kevin discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Kevin Steele’s Biography
Kevin is the Chief Technology Officer of Cars.com. In that role, Kevin is responsible for all technology areas, including IT architecture, product development, and leading the strategic technology direction of the organization.
Prior to joining Cars.com, Kevin was the Director of Internet Marketing Technology at Allstate Insurance. He has also held posts in technology at other organizations including Unites Airlines, McDonalds Corp, and CNA Insurance.
Kevin received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Technical Studies from Southern Illinois University.
Among other topics, Marcy discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Marcy Klevorn’s Biography
Marcy Klevorn is the Chief Information Officer at Ford Motor Company. Marcy has been with Ford for more than 32 years, and rose to the CIO post in January of 2015. In that role, Marcy oversees IT services for Ford’s global operations. Marcy started at the organization in telecommunications.
Prior to her ascension to the CIO post, she previously held roles as the director of the office of the CIO, and was also CIO of Ford’s European operation.
Marcy earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
