823: The role of the technology executive has expanded beyond the help desk capacity and into being a partner to the business. In this episode, Subha Tatavarti, CTO of Wipro, joins us to speak about how she is planning for the future and growing the core capabilities of Wipro in her role at the company. Through a combination of creating compelling solutions, building the right infrastructure, and exploring the art of the possible, Subha aims to grow the company as well as improve its efficiency internally. She explains the organization of her team, the interplay with the company’s think tank Lab45, and the internal training and skill credentialing platform DICE ID. Subha also talks about engaging with technologist clients as a CTO, curating an ecosystem of partners, and experimenting with various use cases for generative AI. Finally, Subha shares the secrets to her career success and the advice she has for other aspiring technology executives.
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822: The last decade is referred to as the Age of the Customer due to the digital capabilities that have unlocked the customer experience and increased personalization. In this episode of Technovation, we feature a panel from our September Metis Strategy Digital Symposium where Fahim Siddiqui, CIO of the Home Depot, and Kristie Grinnell, CIO of DXC Technology, discuss the future of the digital customer experience with Metis Strategy Partner and East Coast Lead Alex Kraus. Throughout the session, these two executives share how technology has improved the value streams and end-to-end process behind the customer and employee experiences, how data has allowed them to measure the user experience and take corrective action, and how that same data is at the center of the relationship between the customer and the employee. Finally, these executives speak about the culture of learning they foster to stay ahead of trends, the office of AI that was set up to manage risk, and the role leadership plays in shepherding cultural change at the company.
821: The topic of generative AI needs no introduction, however, that doesn’t mean that it is easy to move fast on the journey towards developing and scaling it within an organization. On a panel from our September Metis Strategy Digital Symposium, Salumeh Companieh, Chief Digital & Information Officer of Cushman & Wakefield, and Dak Liyanearachchi, Head of Data &
Technology at NRG Energy, speak about their approaches to AI and how they prepared their organizations to leverage it effectively. Both executives share the challenges they face in educating their teams, tackling practical problems with AI adoption, and prioritizing the use cases to experiment. They also discuss how it is shaping their respective industries, the what opportunities it presents, and how they balance innovation and risk management.
820: Client-centricity is the key to delivering an excellent digital experience, and TIAA looks to take that a step further. In this episode, we’re joined by Jessica Austin Barker, Chief Digital and Client Experience Officer at TIAA where she explains how she is pivoting the culture of her team towards ‘customer obsession’ to deliver a ‘digital-first client experience’. Jessica shares her early career experience in customer experience and how it has informed her perspective in her current role. She talks about the art of designing products that simplify complexity for the customer, the critical role analytics plays in the client experience, and the future skills shaping talent development in Jessica’s team. Jessica also describes the collaboration she engages in to leverage broader expertise, the metrics she uses to measure quantitative progress toward customer satisfaction, and the importance of retaining the empathy component to customer interactions. Finally, Jessica shares the trends she is seeing in customer experience and the key difference-makers she has noted across her career.
819: When the infamous motto “Move fast and break things” was informally embraced by Facebook years ago, it fueled the idea that there was a trade-off between the pace of transformation and building a great company. Bestselling authors Frances Frei and Anne Morriss assert otherwise. Join us in this episode of Technovation where the renowned authors and co-hosts of TED podcast ‘Fixable’ share valuable insights on leading change management with both speed and excellence from their latest book, “Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leaders Guide to Solving Hard Problems”. Frances and Anne both draw from their expertise in leadership coaching and provide actionable strategies to build trust through authenticity, logic, and empathy; lead effective change management; and achieve excellence through radical prioritization. Tune in as we explore the importance of storytelling, the advantage of failures, and other key takeaways from their book.
818: Lakshman and Shubham join us on a panel at our most recent Metis Strategy Digital Symposium to discuss the topic of talent strategy in the age of artificial intelligence. Both executives give their perspectives on the general evolution of the talent landscape, the impacts that AI is having on the skills they are hiring for, and use cases for generative AI on internal learning. Each shares his view on the financial component of talent and AI strategies, in-house solutions on cost control, and other opportunities and challenges that AI poses on a company’s talent management strategy.
817: Andrew Brock joins the broadcast to speak about the future of real estate innovation and how he has paved the way for Associa to become a technology company at its core. Andrew shares his journey in the company, the unique approach Associa takes with its entrepreneurial culture and acquisition strategy, and the vision he brings to Associa’s digital transformation. He also explains his purview as President and CEO of HOAM Ventures, the team he has curated there, and how he manages his expansive responsibilities across these roles. Finally, Andrew shares the exciting trends in AI and data that are on his radar for the future and details the secrets to his career success.
816: Michael Lewis joins Peter High in a discussion about his latest book, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, and the insights he gleaned from his research into FTX and the disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. He shares how the topic stumbled into his lap, what interested him about the story, and why luck played a role in the story’s success. Michael Lewis pulls anecdotes from his book and talks about getting to know the crypto tycoon, learning about his upbringing, and understanding how the concept of ‘effective altruism’ set SBF on his eventual path. He talks about the unconventional business structure of FTX, the skepticism he has around cryptocurrency in general, and his unique perspective on whether or not the crypto startup founder is criminally crooked or just chaotically disorganized.
815: Papi Menon, Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Cisco’s incubation engine Outshift, discusses the innovation he is leading at the company and the process by which his team is scaling that innovation. He explains the skills he has on his team at Outshift and how he is developing that talent internally. Papi also describes the focus on cloud security, the platforms his team has built to help companies secure their cloud infrastructure, and the core pillars of these products. Finally, Papi touches on the cultural component of innovation, exploring use cases for artificial intelligence, and the secrets to his career success.
814: Rajan and Sesh joined us on a panel at our most recent Metis Strategy Digital Symposium to discuss the topic of data and AI strategy as enterprise change agents. Rajan shares insights about Intuit’s AI platform, how it drives new customer experiences, and its use in running and scaling business operations within the company. Sesh describes the main components of Western Digital’s AI strategy, his perspective on the change management part of the equation, and the importance of risk management and data governance. Finally, both executives talk about how they approach the adoption of AI and the most critical elements to keep in mind throughout the implementation process.
