414: Comcast CIO Rick Rioboli details Comcast’s heavy focus on the customer experience and the unique focus of Comcast’s digital transformation. In addition to digital sales and e-commerce, the main emphasis of Comcast’s digital transformation is on self-service from a service and support standpoint, which involves enabling digital interactions and providing customers with a frictionless experience. We also discuss Comcast’s use of artificial intelligence, how the IT team partners with the rest of the business, an overview of the new Comcast Technology Center, among other topics.
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391: Washington Post Chief Product and Information Officer Shailesh Prakash describes the genesis story of Arc Publishing. Arc was initially built by the company to meet its own needs, but after realizing it had built one of the best media tech stacks in the industry, the company began selling it to other publishers. The Post now believes Arc Publishing has the ability to become a $100 million business. Shaliesh also shares his view on building technology in-house versus buying and integrating, his experience on the board of Blue Origin, how Jeff Bezos has helped the company further its technology abilities, and how the company partners with large tech organizations, such as Google, Apple, and Facebook, among other topics.
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Universal Music Group (UMG), a leader in music-based entertainment, today announced Dan Morales has been appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO), overseeing UMG’s global technology platforms and developing new systems to expand the company’s advanced analytics and data platforms.
Morales joins UMG from eBay Inc., where he also served as CIO. In his new role, Morales will now oversee UMG’s global Information Technology team, as well as the company’s internal and external networks. Additionally, he will a develop insights from data across UMG’s organization through analytics, reporting and data intelligence. Morales, whose appointment is effective April 15, will be based at UMG’s global headquarters in Santa Monica and report to Boyd Muir, UMG’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and President of Operations.
Cathie is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at PSAV, the world’s largest event experiences company. As CIO, Cathie is responsible for ensuring that PSAV has the information solutions to improve effectiveness and efficiency in delivering services to customers.
Before joining PSAV, Cathie was the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at the Hub Group. Prior to joining the Hub Group, Cathie held a number of executive IT positions at Motorola, including several divisional Chief Information Officer roles, and, most recently, Corporate Vice President of their Global Solutions and Services Operations. Before Motorola, Cathie was the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Tellabs. Cathie began her career at AT&T.
Cathie received her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and her MBA from the University of Chicago.
Cathie serves on the board of Northwestern Memorial Health Care.
Dan is the Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Product Development at Elsevier, the 138 year old, $3.3 billion publisher which is now the science, technology, and healthcare division of RELX Group. As CTO, Dan is responsible for traditional IT, as well as evolving the company’s products in support of its transformation from a traditional print-based business to a digital solutions provider.
Before joining Elsevier, Dan was the Chief Technology Officer of Reed Business Information (formerly Reed Elsevier), a sister company within RELX Group. Dan joined Reed Business Information as the United Kingdom Chief Technology Officer and later became Global Chief Information Officer. Prior to joining RELX Group, Dan held technology and product development leadership roles with GM Financial, Wunderman Cato Johnson, and IBM, as well as a number of UK and international software organizations.
Dan was one of TechRepublic’s ‘The top 50 CIOs”, and was inducted into the CIO hall of fame in 2017.
Among other topics, Rick discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
• The role of the CIO in an information based company • Recruiting and retaining talent • Providing employees with opportunities for growth and advancement • Leading with the mindset of a teacher or coach • Veteran advice for technologists seeking a board position • Proven techniques for increasing the presence of women in all levels of an organization • The benefits of involving CIOS when developing strategic partnerships • Creating symbiotic relationships with partners to drive and support growth and innovation
Rick King’s Biography
Rick is the Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Thomson Reuters, an $11 billion provider of news and information for professional markets. Rick has been with Thomson Reuters since 2000, previously serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Technology and as the Chief Technology Officer of various units.
Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Rick held executive-level positions at Ceridian Employer Services and Jostens Learning, among other companies. He began his career as a teacher and coach.
Rick is a member of the board of directors for TCF Financial Corporation, a publicly traded bank holding company, where he chairs the Technology Committee and sits on the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee. He is also heavily involved in his community, serving on the boards of trustees for Minnesota Public Radio and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Rick was appointed by the Governor of Minnesota to the Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission, where he chairs the Management and Operations Committee, as well as to the Technology Advisory Committee, which he also chairs.
Recently, Rick was honored with a 2017 “Guys Who Get It Award” for his work on gender partnership.
Rick holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont in Mathematics – Teacher Education as well as a master’s degree in Education Administration and Planning from the University of Vermont.
I recently caught up with Rick over the phone from his office in Eagan, Minnesota. Our conversation covered World Class IT Principle One, People, as we discussed recruiting and retaining talent, specifically Thomson Reuter’s success with increasing the number of women across all levels of the organization. We also covered World Class Principle Five, External Partnerships, as Rick described the symbiotic partnerships that he has developed that both ease and enable growth and innovation. We also discussed CIOs as strategists, his experience as a board-level CIO with advice he has for those who wish to follow in his footsteps, as well as a variety of other topics
Tristan Boutros Biography
Tristan is the Chief Operating Officer of Product, Technology & Design at The New York Times. In that role, he is responsible for end-to-end delivery of numerous consumer facing products and internal enterprise systems and processes as well as digital transformation and operations for an organization of over 500 employees.
Prior to working at The New York Times, Tristan was the Senior Vice President of Technology and Business Process for Warner Music Group, where he was responsible for IT operations management, business transformation strategy and planning, as well as end-to-end service delivery including the design and delivery of a next generation, cloud based, enterprise software platform. Prior to Warner Music Group, he worked in various senior leadership positions for BlackBerry.
Tristan received his Bachelors of Commerce in Marketing & Management Labor Studies from University of Windsor.
Among other topics, Mike discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Mike Schroepfer’s Biography
Welcome to Metis Strategy’s Forum on World Class IT. I’m Peter High, and I’m pleased to welcome Mike Schroepfer to the broadcast. Mike is the Chief Technology Officer at Facebook. In that role, he leads the development of the technology strategies and teams that will enable Facebook to connect billions of people around the world and make significant breakthroughs in fields like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
Before Facebook, Mike was the Vice President of Engineering at Mozilla Corporation, where he led the global and open product development process behind Firefox. Mike was formerly a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems, which acquired his company, CenterRun. He began his career working at various startups, including a digital effects software startup where he developed software that has been used in several major motion pictures.
Mike holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University and has filed two U.S. patents.
I met with Mike in his office at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California last week, and our conversation covered Facebook’s ten-year plan, and the three innovation pillars that he leads. Examples of innovations that the organizations are working on in the near and long-term, the methods he uses to evaluate recruits and employees, the way in which Facebook has maintained its innovative edge despite its extraordinary growth, among a variety of other topics.
Among other topics, Roger discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
Roger Gurnani’s Biography
Roger Gurnani is an Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Technology Architect at Verizon Communications, a $127 billion provider of 4G wireless, fiber-optic broadband, and Global Internet network services. In that role, he is responsible for developing and guiding the technology strategy and investments.
Roger had been with Verizon since its inception in 2000, holding multiple roles. Prior to his current role, Roger was the Chief Information Officer.
Roger received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science degree in System Engineering from Auburn University.
Among other topics, David discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:
David Bray’s Biography
David Bray is the Chief Information Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, an agency of the US Government, and has held that role since August of 2013. As CIO, David leads the modernization of the Commission’s technology endeavors. His efforts in modernizing the more than 200 systems of the FCC were recognized with AFFIRM’s Cloud Computing Leadership award in 2015.
Prior to joining the FCC, David served in many other areas of the government, including stints at the CDC’s Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program, the Department of Energy, the Institute for Defense Analyses, the Science and Technology Policy Institute, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Information Sharing Environment.
David is also a prolific presence on social media, appearing at the top of multiple top social CIO lists, including on Forbes.com. He received an Eisenhower Fellowship to Taiwan and Australia, and has received multiple awards for his public service including the Roger W. Jones award for Executive leadership, the Arthur S. Fleming Award, and a National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Award.
David earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Biology, a Master of Science in Public Health, and a PhD in Information Systems, each from Emory University. He has also been a visiting associate at the University of Oxford, and was a Post-Doctoral Associate in 2008 at both MIT and Harvard.
