596: In this interview, Rich Uhlig, Intel Senior Fellow and the Managing Director of Intel Labs, focuses on the research and delivery of breakthrough innovations. Rich provides an overview of the work that Intel Labs does and explains his team’s process in evaluating prototypes and ideas to determine which can go to scale. He describes a few of the areas of innovation the organization has explored including the intersection of data and AI, cybersecurity and a trusted compute base, and homomorphic encryption as well as provides how these areas can be benefited from advancements in technology. Finally, Rich describes the progress towards quantum computing and how his team at Intel Labs leverages ecosystems of companies and consumers for insight into the technology’s feasibility.
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This episode is sponsored by Quickbase.
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595: In this interview, Colleen Berube, Chief Information Officer and SVP of Operations at Zendesk, focuses on the customer and employee experiences. Colleen describes how tech, data, and process help to scale the business and provides insight into how she balances adding processes without adding unneeded bureaucracy. We discuss the role her team plays in enhancing the customer experience, how the customer and employee experiences are connected with one another, and how COVID has changed the way companies think about the overall idea of “experience.” Finally, Colleen shares her perspective on the state of women in technology leadership positions and trends in technology she looks forward to.
594: In this interview, Mark Papermaster, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Technology and Engineering at AMD, focuses on the acceleration of compute technology and fostering a culture of innovation within AMD. Mark provides a background on the responsibilities in his role as both CTO and EVP as well as insight into how his team at AMD collaborates and works as it innovates new products. Mark discusses where he attributes the source of the company’s impressive value creation over the years, the importance of a culture based on open communication, problem-solving, and what he calls “creative contention”, and how that culture allows AMD to recruit top talent. Finally, Mark talks about how AMD uses being the first user of its technology to develop better products and some of the tech trends he is excited about.
593: In this interview, Jack Clare, Chief Information Officer of United Natural Foods Incorporated (UNFI), focuses on the expansion of eCommerce channels and modernizing IT systems. Jack provides an overview of UNFI’s business and his role as CIO at the company. He explains how the pandemic accelerated UNFI’s digital transformation by expanding its eCommerce model and how Jack is managing the company’s modernization efforts and capability integration following the multiple historical acquisitions. Jack speaks on his experience being onboarded remotely and how he sees it as an opportunity for flexibility in recruiting greater talent. Finally, he discusses the evolution of the CIO role, future tech trends, and how partnering with technologically sophisticated distributors like Amazon presents learning opportunities for the company.
592: In this interview, Jeff Wysocki, Chief Information Officer of The Mosaic Company, focuses on IT Strategy and change management. Jeff describes his Five-Pronged IT Strategy which includes Partner to Win, Accelerate Impact of IT, Unlock Data, Security and Scale, and Business of IT. Jeff discusses what the company’s cultural change looks like with re-training employees on IT, how Mosaic focuses on modernizing IT, and how to evaluate the value gained from IT more broadly. Finally, Jeff talks about the diversity in his experience across different industries and the trends he is excited about in technology.
591: In this interview, Anjana Harve, Global Chief Information Officer for Fresenius Medical Care, focuses on the broader role of the CIO and the business use of technology. Anjana begins with sharing her perspective on why now was the right time for the Global CIO Role at Fresenius and her role in leveraging digital technology as a source of competitive growth. She discusses how the global operating model helps with focusing on achieving business outcomes, finding top-line efficiencies, and improving the customer experience. Finally, Anjana talks about the role of the Global CIO during COVID, the role of culture and tech in hybrid work, and the state of women in technology.
590: In this interview, Adhir Mattu, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Marvell Semiconductor, focuses on the role IT plays in the growth of companies. Adhir provides an overview of Marvell Semiconductor’s business and how the IT department operates within a tech-focused company like Marvell. Adhir highlights the crucial role IT plays in expanding the infrastructure for a company to grow organically and integrating the capabilities acquired through M&A transactions. Through Marvell’s various historical acquisitions, Adhir describes the “blueprint”, culture, and guiding principles the company has curated to ensure M&A integrations are successful. Finally, Adhir discusses the ways in which IT partners with other teams to drive customer experience, designs new digital ways of working, and explores growing trends in technology.
589: In this interview, Michael Newcity, Chief Innovation Officer and President of ArcBest Technologies, focuses on the topic of transformative innovation. Michael describes what transformative innovation entails within a company and how he organizes his teams to foster innovation and drive it forward. He talks about his previous roles and responsibilities as the former CIO, CFO, among others and how these various experiences influenced his perspective as Chief Innovation Officer. Specifically, Michael highlights how his previous role of CFO informed his experience in IT around finance and data within the company. Finally, he covers how ArcBest allocates resources to and focuses on innovation while still maintaining sufficient efforts to run the broader business.
588: Ed Jennings, Chief Executive Officer of Quickbase, dials into the concept of citizen developers. Ed describes the nature of Quickbase’s business and how he defines citizen automation. He provides insight into how companies can train and empower citizen developers, how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for citizen automation with a renewed focus on resilience, and how citizen automation can unlock the full potential of systems, people, and teams. Finally, Ed also describes where citizen automation typically begins in enterprises, how citizen automation both competes and collaborates with traditional IT organizations and ecosystems, and how companies can begin their citizen development journey.
587: In this interview, Bhavani Amirthalingam, Chief Digital Information Officer of Ameren, focuses on the digital customer experience. Bhavani describes how she sees the evolution of customer needs and the importance of providing frictionless digital experiences. She shares how Ameren has navigated the expansion of digital channels and the growing number of digital transactions that the company has seen. Bhavani also provides some insight into how she looks at balancing taking on risk and risk management that goes into innovation, the way Ameren has organized a centralized group integrating both IT and OT, and trends in technology she looks forward to.
