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Episode 828

Technology as a Team Sport: W.W. Grainger CTO Jonny LeRoy on Talent, Collaboration, and the Future of In-Person Work

December 14, 2023
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About the Guest

Jonny LeRoy

SVP & Chief Technology Officer of W.W. Grainger
Jonny LeRoy is the SVP & CTO of W.W. Grainger, Inc., an industrial product supplier that provides maintenance, repair, and operations which earns in excess of $15 billion in annual revenue. Jonny has been in his role for more than three and a half years, and he leads teams across Grainger's technology group to build capabilities that complement and advance the company's strategy and business model. His purview also includes creating a more modern technology foundation and next-generation engineering culture that enables growth through stronger competitive advantages. In prior roles at ThoughtWorks, Jonny served as Market Tech Principal for the West Coast and Lead Developer in the U.S. and UK. Earlier in his career, Jonny was a founder and CTO of a successful UK start-up.

Episode Overview

828: In order for the technology organization within an enterprise to function properly, there must be a deliberate focus on talent and collaboration. According to W.W. Grainger CTO Jonny LeRoy, “technology is a team sport.” In this interview, Jonny discusses how he fosters this collaboration within his technology team and how this focus on talent is a key part of the company’s overall strategy. Jonny explains the three major components of talent development, the approach he takes to in-person versus remote work environments, and what it means to make the workplace a magnet rather than a mandate. He also talks about the process of modernizing the nearly 100-year-old company, efforts to adopt automation, and the company’s overall data strategy inclusive of cybersecurity. Finally, Jonny looks ahead at the future of generative AI, identifies the methods of finding focus areas for customer interactions, and reflects on his unique career path into technology.

“"Collaboration is vital because I'm a big believer that technology is a team sport, not an individual effort.""

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