387: Schneider Electric CIO Elizabeth Hackenson provides details from her first 100 days as CIO when she made multiple trips around the world to speak with as many business peers, customers, and employees as possible. Early in her tenure, a key IT leader stepped down, resulting in Elizabeth being forced into the dual role of Global CIO and Head of IT for North America. Though more than she expected, the dual role allowed Elizabeth to immerse herself into some of the challenges that operations were facing, and she was exposed to new leaders, challenges, and opportunities in IT. We also discuss Elizabeth’s relationship with her predecessor and current Chief Digital Officer Herve Coureil, Schneider’s approach to eliminating technical debt, and Elizabeth’s take on the evolution of the CIO role.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More
386: Akamai CEO Tom Leighton details the private and public sector’s growing security concerns, which has led to the company’s pivot from its traditional internet offerings to a fast-growing security business. Today, there are billions of devices in homes and offices that are not adequately secured. Bad actors have the ability to wipe out any cloud data center, which can isolate many countries from the rest of the world. Tom believes that this damage is a fraction of what could be done in future attacks, and the only way to stop these attacks is to absorb it out at the edge. We also discuss Akamai’s founding story, how the company survived the difficult times following the dot.com crash, why Tom believes the firewall’s time has passed, among other topics.
This episode sponsored by .
385: Toyota (TMNA) CDO and Toyota Connected CEO Zack Hicks shares his vision for how technology will transform driving. As the CEO of Toyota Connected, Zack and his team use data to provide an enhanced and seamless driving experience. To do so, Zack is focused on removing friction points throughout the entire process by having 3rd party services integrate with Toyota’s technologies. He claims to be agnostic about who owns the experience, and that his only goal is to enable it. While he is focused on augmenting the driving experience, he asserts that full autonomy is still far in the future. We also discuss Zack’s experience as a board-level executive, his view on the future of autonomous vehicles, the benefits of containers and server-less technologies, among other topics.
384: Fortinet CISO Phil Quade argues that cybersecurity needs to act like a science in order to understand its core strategies and implement the complex elements that can be layered on top of that strategy. Phil believes that doing so starts with building a foundation based on speed, integration, and connectivity. Fortinet, which was built on these elements, is focused on making sure they provide the fastest possible cybersecurity solutions out there, as well as providing the ability to connect them together. We also discuss the differences between private and public sector cybersecurity, Phil’s approach to mitigating risk, the advantages of being an internal first user, among other topics.
This episode is brought to you by .
383: Symantec’s CEO In this interview, Greg argues that detection and automation are absolutely critical in the era of prevention. He cites that in today’s cyberspace, companies report as little as seven minutes between first infection and disaster, so it is critical that organizations be able to detect and automate the response to those threats. At Symantec, the company has used artificial intelligence to improve its ability to defend, as Greg describes in this interview. We also discuss Symantec’s four pillar cyber safety umbrella, the importance of having consequences for those who try to steal data, the value of zero trust infrastructure, and a variety of other topics.
382: Workday CIO Diana McKenzie discusses the importance of understanding how the customer experiences the company’s product and the competitors’ products. Diana notes that CIOs have a unique opportunity to collaborate with customers, hear their feedback regarding what they hope to see from their products, and bring those insights back to the company. To better understand the product, the company has rolled out a Workday-on-Workday program, where IT is the first user of Workday’s product. This allows Diana’s function to influence how the product evolves and enables Workday to ensures that their product strategy always reflects what the marketplace is likely to need most. We also discuss Diana’s experience serving on a public board, the employee engagement survey Workday has rolled out, Workday’s acquisition of Adaptive Insights, among other topics.
381: Sequoia Partner Roelof Botha and Ethos Life co-founder and CEO Peter Colis dive into the major issues with life insurance and how Ethos Life can make a difference. A great life insurance company has not been built for 150 years, and while the existing players have massive amounts of capital, Ethos is relying on their speed of execution and digital advantage. We also discuss how Ethos is using behavioral science and product testing for ease of use, how Ethos is able to overcome the faster process, Roelof’s take on AI and voice technologies, why Roelof was determined to immigrate to the United States, among other topics.
380: TGI Friday’s Chief Experience Officer Sherif Mityas highlights the importance of intertwining strategy and technology, and he argues that because of the overlap between the two, that every CIO should serve in the Chief Experience Officer role. From his perspective, every CIO today is dealing with the experience of the customer because, from an experiential perspective, technology permeates everything that the guest does. Technologies, such as artificial intelligence and voice-assisted devices, have provided the company with ways to better understand and engage with their guests. By leveraging AI specifically, the organization has shifted from a one size fits all approach to a more specific engagement, which provides a more relevant, frictionless, and convenient experience for the guest. We also discuss the ways in which the company segments the guest journey, the use case Sherif’s sees for blockchain, and how companies need to engage with the consumer.
379: Estee Lauder CIO Michael Smith stresses the importance of talent and culture. On the talent side, Michael has brought in business leadership from several Fortune 500 companies, and he has helped open a new technology hub in Long Island City, New York, which is part of a two-campus model in New York that has formed after consolidating down from nine location. Michael notes that culture is Estee Lauder’s number one asset. We discuss how consumer expectations will change as technology evolves, the benefits Michael gets from being a consumer of his own products, among other topics.
378: Winnebago CIO Jeff Kuback argues that a strong IT team is an essential element in all industries, even non-technical ones such as RVs and boats. In the past, the industry has been hesitant to invest in IT due to its reputation for high fixed costs, and in fact, Winnebago did not have a CIO when Mike Happe joined as CEO. However, Jeff has worked to make IT more efficient, which includes spending the appropriate amount of money on cybersecurity and moving from an on-premise data center to the cloud. We also discuss how Winnebago has gone from a traditional RV company to focusing on the outdoor lifestyle as a whole, how Winnebago has leveraged Microsoft tools, what Jeff looks for in external partners, among other topics.
