Episode 809

Paramount’s Cloud-First Adoption: CIO Lakshman Nathan Discusses the Catalysts Behind Transformation

October 9, 2023

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About the Guest

Lakshman Nathan

Chief Information Officer of Paramount

Lakshman Nathan is the Chief Information Officer of Paramount, one of the world's leading producers of premium entertainment content that connects billions of people in nearly every country globally and reports $30 billion in annual revenue. In his role, Lakshman owns all corporate systems, most application systems that support the enterprise, all end-user technology, and specialized production teams. He has been in his current role for a bit more than a year, and he joined Paramount through the merger of CBS, where he'd previously worked for over 13 years along with the combined company Viacom CBS. He has led a cloud-first push at the organization, and he recognized that the merger together with COVID served as catalysts for remarkable transformation.

Episode Overview

809: Lakshman Nathan joins our host Peter High in a conversation about the catalyzing factors behind the company’s cloud transformation and the strategic alignment he aims to achieve between the IT organization and the rest of the business. Laksh explains his expanded purview as he has moved into a global role within the company, the evolving team composition as a result, and the changing skillsets needed along with the process of upskilling the talent on his team. He also goes into the M&A integration process, how it has helped push forward the cloud-first adoption, and how collaboration has been impacted by the move toward a more remote workplace environment. Finally, Laksh talks about the trends in generative AI, the experimentation with the new technology on the horizon, and the secrets to his career success.

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“"I'm a big believer of having the technology leader both be the subject matter expert as well as the relationship manager because it feels like they get a lot more out of the tools themselves.""