610: In this interview, Atul Bhardwaj, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer of LEGO, speaks with Peter High about the digital transformation of the iconic and well-known toy company. Atul provides an overview of his post as Chief Digital and Technology Officer for LEGO and explains how LEGO is integrating digital into its product offerings. He describes the various ways digital experiences differ between adult and children customers, how LEGO works together and keeps pace with the digital transformation of partners within its ecosystem, and how LEGO is digitizing the internal organization overall. He also discusses the process of building his team at LEGO including what role passion for the product plays, how the common language of code unites a global effort of digital transformation, and how LEGO fosters diversity and inclusion at the company. Finally, Atul looks ahead at the tech trends that his team is keeping an eye on.
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This episode is sponsored by Transmit Security.
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609: In this interview from our recent Metis Strategy Digital Symposium in September, Jim Swanson, Executive Vice President and Enterprise CIO for Johnson & Johnson, and Debra King, Senior Vice President and Chief Information and Transformation Officer for Corteva Agriscience, speak with Metis Strategy’s Vice President and East Coast Lead Alex Kraus about digital acceleration in times of uncertainty. Debra describes how Corteva maintains the characteristics of a startup and how the company leverages its Execute to Win program to bring about new and innovative ideas. Jim shares insight from Johnson & Johnson’s Four Pillars Approach as they relate to advancing the company’s mission of transforming the trajectory of human health. Finally, Debra gives her perspective on how Corteva’s agility has been shaped by uncertainty, and Jim gives his perspective on how Johnson & Johnson has developed resiliency during the pandemic.
608: In this interview, Iddo Kadim, Chief Technology Officer and Director of Olympic Technology at Intel, focuses on the development and application of innovative technology at the Olympic Games. Iddo begins with how his role as Intel’s Director of Olympic Technology functions and the real-time problem solving that comes as a result. He discusses his method of planning for the Olympic Games, the implication of planning so far in advance, and how he takes into account and balances the various needs of multiple constituents. Finally, Iddo explains the technology behind a few of these technologies and provides detailed examples of their applications including 3D Athlete Technology, Mobileye, 5G, and Smart Venues.
607: In this interview from a recent Metis Strategy Digital Symposium, Tim Dickson, Chief Information Officer for Generac, and Mike Giresi, Chief Digital Officer for Molex, focus on the ways in which technology leaders are engaging both employees and customers as part of their digital transformations. Tim discusses how he and his team at Generac think about the customer experience from a B2B perspective. Similarly, Mike discusses how he brings his background in B2C customer sensibility to the B2B work at Molex and how he achieves that through elevating the employee experience. Tim also talks about the ways in which the hiring of new talent and development of existing talent will change at Generac. Mike and Tim then both give their perspectives on how they bring people onboard and create buy-in with these new ways of working.
606: In this interview, Steve Zerby, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Owens Corning, focuses on the culture and structure of a small IT team within a company. Steve provides an overview of Owens Corning’s business and the role of technology and digital in a large and broad organization. He gives insight into how the IT organization operates and how it forms a culture that focuses on employee retention. Steve discusses how he manages relationships both internally as a small IT organization and externally with contractors and partners within an ecosystem. Finally, he talks about his tenure as CIO, the benefits of having a continuity of leadership in his role, how Owens Corning stays innovative with a small team with low attrition, and various trends in technology he looks forward to.
605: In this interview, Danielle Brown, SVP and CIO of Whirlpool, focuses on the digital consumer journey and how technology plays a role in the strategic imperatives of the company. Danielle shares the four major strategic imperatives of the company and provides background on how the IT organization partners with the rest of the business in cross-functional teams and uses data and analytics to meet those imperatives. She also describes how Whirlpool redefines products and continues to innovate and engage with consumers on their digital journey from start to finish. Danielle also gives insight into how she is maintaining a modern technology footprint at Whirlpool as well as how cybersecurity plays a role in the company’s overall strategy. Finally, she gives her perspective on the state of women of color in leadership positions in IT organizations, provides advice for aspiring board-level CIOs, and looks ahead at a few trends in technology that her team is looking at.
604: In this interview, Amir Kazmi, Chief Information and Digital Officer of WestRock, focuses on the role of digital in creating sustainable packaging solutions for supply chains. Amir provides an overview of WestRock’s business as a sustainable packaging solutions company and the purview of the two sides to his role as Chief Information and Digital Officer. He gives a few examples of how WestRock has grown its digital channels, what role digital plays in the supply chain, and how he builds greater digital dexterity and acumen across the company. Additionally, he discusses how his experience as a CEO of a startup informed his current role as a tech executive, how he continues to work with and leverage the capabilities of startups through ecosystems, and why providing leadership on a board of directors can make a real impact on the company and society. Finally, Amir shares with us a few tech trends he is looking forward to in the future.
603: In this interview, Rakesh Loonkar, President and Co-Founder of Transmit Security, focuses on identity experience and a shift towards a passwordless future. Rakesh begins with how he defines “identity experience”. He describes the potential business outcomes that a passwordless future can help achieve and what the process is to move towards making that a reality today. Rakesh discusses what industries have been the first adopters of passwordless technology and shares his perspective on the overall evolution of the cybersecurity industry. Finally, he provides insight into why now is the best time for Transmit Security to take outside capital, how Transmit Security plans to keep evolving, and recommendations for CIOs and executives to improve their organization’s cybersecurity.
This episode is sponsored by Quickbase.
602: In this interview, Greg Carmichael, CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp, describes his journey from CIO to CEO at the company and why now is the best time for other CIOs to begin their journey. He also gives his perspective on how the CIO role presents a solid foundation for advancement to the CEO post. Jude Schramm, CIO of Fifth Third, then shares how technology is becoming a fabric of how the company operates and how the pandemic helped accelerate the company’s digital capabilities, changing the way the company looks at cybersecurity. Finally, Jude talks about the benefits of having a CEO cognizant of the CIO role, and Greg shares some of the trends in technology that he is excited about in the future.
This interview was recorded live during the Metis Strategy Digital Symposium in September of 2021.
601: In this interview, Brad Stone, Senior Executive Editor for Global Technology at Bloomberg News and bestselling author of his latest book Amazon Unbound, focuses on Amazon’s growth since his last book and what the future of Amazon looks like. Brad describes his decision to write about Amazon again after his 2013 book and shares insights from it on how Amazon manages to succeed despite its increasing size. He also talks about what the handoff of the CEO role to Andy Jassy will look like, Amazon’s headwinds when it comes to regulatory scrutiny, and Amazon’s overall impact on society. Brad discusses how Amazon continued its massive growth during the pandemic, how Amazon attracts and retains technical talent in a competitive market, and how Amazon strategizes its acquisitions. Finally, Brad gives his perspective on how Jeff Bezos’s personal life influences his success at Amazon, how Brad’s access to Amazon and Bezos’s circle of friends changed after his first book, and what Brad Stone sees as his next big topic to investigate.
