Chief Executive Officer Archives - Page 7 of 9

Among other topics, Andre discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

The missions and goals of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
How BBG is able to get its information across in regimes where a free press is unavailable
How he measures success, and what kind of metrics he uses to determine whether progress is being made
How he leverages social media and “multi-directional” communication, and what roles those methods play in reaching the audience today
How he works with other agencies within the government and how they are able to coordinate their message
How his career path has led him to chief executive role, and how his previous CIO roles have prepared him for his current position

Andre Mendes’ Biography

Andre is the interim CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a government agency whose goal is to deliver news and information to audiences overseas. As interim CEO, Andre oversees all aspects of U.S. international media, and provides management of BBG’s technical, professional, and administrative operations.

Prior to assuming the interim CEO role, Andre served as the director of global operations, managing and supervising the IBB Chief of staff, as well as the Office of Technology, Services, and Innovation. He also served as the program administrator for grants made to BBG-sponsored grantees.

Prior to joining BBG, Andre served as senior vice president of strategic planning and CIO of Special Olympics International, where he managed the organizations technology infrastructure and helped develop a four year Special Olympics strategic plan. Previously, Andre also served as Chief Technology Integration Officer for PBS (the Public Broadcasting Service).

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Among other topics, Dr. Goodnight discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

The development of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS), Jim’s rise as an entrepreneur and the growth of the SAS Institute from a small startup supported by NC State University to becoming one of the world’s largest private software company.
The uniqueness of SAS Institute’s culture and Jim’s philosophy of the importance of culture to motivate and retain the best talent.
The advantages and reasons behind the SAS Institute remaining a private company across its 35 year history and the advantages this legacy in analytics provides to the Institute compared to its younger competitors.
The state of computer science at the educational level and the lack of a focus on analytics in the majority of computer science departments across the country.
The importance of motivating more American youth to pursue the STEM areas of study to support future growth and success of technology in the US.
Eye on the trends: Analytics, although a field that has been in existence for many years, is growing in importance as the focus on processing larger volumes of data faster becomes even more central to a company’s strategic growth.

Dr. Jim Goodnight’s Biography

Jim is one of the creators of SAS software and is the Chief Executive Officer of SAS Institute, the developer of analytics software that owns the largest market share for advanced analytics. Jim co-founded SAS Institute as a faculty member of North Carolina State University in 1976 and has been CEO since.

Jim along with fellow faculty member Anthony James Barr were the project leaders for the early development of SAS and when the software reached 100 customers in 1976, Jim and three colleagues founded the SAS Institute after leaving the University. As CEO, Jim has grown the company from a $138,000, 21 employee company in the late 1970s to a $3.02 B, 13,739 employee company in 2013. Under Jim’s leadership, the SAS Institute has been profitable every year in its 35 years as a private company and between 1984 and 2012 has made 19 successful acquisitions.

In 2004, Jim was named a Great American Business Leader by Harvard and was also named one of America’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs by Inc. Magazine the same year. He also frequently speaks and participates at the World Economic Forum. Jim is also ranked 58 on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list with a net worth of $7.2 B.

Jim holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in Statistics from North Carolina State University where he was a faculty member from 1972 to 1976.

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Among other topics, Nic discusses the following with Metis Strategy:

The future of technology, and what trends he sees evolving in the online education sector
Revolution of the distribution model utilized by Edmodo and other virtual education platforms
The significance of focusing exclusively on a pre-K to grade 12 audience, and the challenges of reaching those of a younger age
The need for a digital platform in education, and the changes that accompanied the transition from analog to digital
How Edmodo was designed with the teacher in mind first compared with other online education platforms that were designed primarily from the student’s point of view
Eye on the trends: The growing importance and power of a global education network

Nic Borg’s Biography

Nic is the co-founder and chief product officer of Edmodo, a private K-12 classroom communication tool that’s drawn 15 million teachers and students together in only four years. On the secure platform teachers and students can collaborate, share content and access educational apps to augment in-class learning. Edmodo’s goal is to create social media tools that help teachers engage students and to make sure every school in the world has access to them.

Before launching Edmodo, Borg worked at Kaneland High School in Maple Park, IL for seven years, building web-based tools and learning management solutions.

He has been named to Forbes prestigious “30 Under 30” list, as an innovative entrepreneur under the age of 30.

Nic has a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University.

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Among other topics, Simon discusses the following with Metis Strategy:

Simon’s vision for FutureLearn, and how he started the company
How he has leveraged his non-academic background to run a MOOC
FutureLearn’s revenue model, and what Simon thinks about his company’s position vis-à-vis traditional educational institutions and other MOOCs
How FutureLearn engages cultural institutions to enhance its product
The creative potential of forming a more collaborative MOOC sphere
Eye on the Trends: Mobile learning, changing technology to make MOOC learning more conducive to non-STEM subjects

Simon Nelson’s Biography

Simon is the CEO of FutureLearn, a massive open online course (MOOC) founded in late 2012 as a company majority owned by the UK’s Open University.

Simon also oversees digital activities for Phaidon Press, a role he retained while joining Futurelearn Ltd as CEO in late 2012.

Prior to his current roles, Simon led a number of projects in the TV, radio and publishing sectors for companies including Random House, UKTV, Specific Media and New York Public Radio. He also spent more than a decade at the BBC, leading all digital activities for the BBC’s television divisions where he helped launch the iPlayer and built an award winning portfolio of online and cross platform services.

Simon is a graduate of University of Cambridge and holds an MBA from University of Manchester.

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Among other topics, Mike discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

The genesis of the idea behind ALISON
The strategy behind ALISON’s focus on corporate and vocational training content online
ALISON’s revenue model and key performance indicators used
The rationale behind ALISON’s lack of affiliation with universities
Why platforms like ALISON cannot compensate for learning through others and networking, as Mike experienced at Harvard
How ALISON functions as a filter for the content that exists online in the vocational space
Eye on the Trends: There will be great emphasis on skills-based hiring in the future, a departure from the traditional route that heavily weights an applicant’s college or university name, and ALISON is positioning itself to provide employers with such candidates

Mike Feerick’s Biography

Mike is the founder and CEO of ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online), a MOOC-based e-learning platform headquartered in Galway, Ireland.

ALISON is considered by some to be the first ever MOOC, as Mike launched the company in 2007, which has since became a noted global provider in the e-learning community, and in September of 2013, ALISON was announced as one of six winners at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) awards, an initiative of the Qatar Foundation.

Prior to founding ALISON, Mike founded YAC, a unified messaging/telecoms company (acquired by J2COM NASD in July of 2007), and he also founded Advance Learning, a global provider of interactive multimedia courseware for IT literacy. Mike also served as Acting MD of Interactive Investor and on the Board of BMG Music UK.

Mike holds a BBS (University of Limerick) and MBA (Harvard University).

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Among other topics, Daphne discusses the following with Metis Strategy:

The genesis of the idea behind Coursera
Coursera’s current strategy to only feature courses by professors affiliated with member universities
Its revenue model and and key performance indicators used
How Coursera differentiates itself from other MOOCs by facilitating a “social” aspect to learning
Why Coursera offers a wide variety of courses as opposed to focusing on narrow, technical fields as done by some of its competitors
Eye on trends: Internationalization of content and enabling of mobile solutions so students have access to the material even if they are not in class 24/7. Coursera intends to expand internationally, given only a third of its current students are from the US

Daphne Koller’s Biography

Daphne is the co-founder and co-CEO of Coursera, an education company that partners with many of the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free.

She is also the Rajeev Motwani Professor in the Computer Science Department and the Oswald Villard University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. She is the author of over 180 publications.

Daphne pioneered in her classroom many of the ideas that are key to Stanford’s massive online education effort.

Among the many awards she has won include a 2004 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and she was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2011.

Daphne has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a PhD from Stanford University.

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Among other topics, Sebastian discusses the following with Metis Strategy:

The motivations and influences in launching the Udacity project
How Udacity aims to solve the real problem of “access” to higher education
The competitive landscape and business strategy for Udacity and other MOOCs
The metrics used to assess Udacity’s performance
Eye on trends: MOOCs will complement as opposed to replace the traditional university learning, which provides a fundamentally different experience to students

Sebastian Thrun’s Biography

Sebastian is the CEO and cofounder of Udacity, a for-profit education company offering massive open online courses or MOOCs. Prior to his time at Udacity, Sebastian was a Google VP and Fellow, where he was involved in the creation of Google Glass, the driverless car initiative, and Google Street View. Among his academic posts, Sebastian has been a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University.

Sebastian led development of the robotic vehicle Stanley, which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, and which has since been placed on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

In recognition of his contributions, Sebastian was elected into the National Academy of Engineering and also into the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2007. Fast Company selected Sebastian as the fifth most creative person in business in the world.

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Among other topics, Aaron discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

Themes and strategic products to be unveiled at BoxWorks, the company’s trademark user conference to be held next week
How Box develops nimble, industry specific teams by attracting and managing top talent in the IT world
Box’s strength in building strong internal teams and fostering robust external relationships with other IT firms
Box’s unique business model of delivering enterprise solutions through a consumer IT approach
Eye on trends: Yesterday’s competitors are becoming today’s partners in IT. As consumers and enterprises demand more flexibility, connectivity, and functionality, often from the same device, different solutions providers have to collaborate

Aaron Levie’s Biography

Aaron is the CEO and co-founder of Box, a leader in online file sharing and cloud content management for individuals and enterprises alike. Aaron created Box (originally called Box.net) as a college business project with the goal of helping people easily access their information from any location. Box was launched from Aaron’s dorm room in 2005 with the help of the current CFO of the company Dylan Smith. Aaron is the visionary behind Box’s product and platform strategy, which is focused on incorporating the best of traditional content management with the most effective elements of social business software.

Aaron studied business at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California before taking a leave of absence, which is likely to be a permanent one, he has acknowledged.

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Among other topics, Chris discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

How Schneider National was an early adopter of technology, such as GPS, and continues to appreciate the value it delivers
His transition from CIO to COO to CEO and his keen interest on how technology solves business problems
The intersection of marketing and technology for lead generation, revenue management, and yield management
How, as current CEO, Chris interacts with the CIO with greater appreciation than some CEOs may
Eye on Trends: the power of business analytics to find valuable trends that allow Schneider to proactively tackle both issues and opportunities

Chris Lofgren’s Biography

Chris is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Schneider National Inc., a multi-billion dollar provider of truckload, logistics and intermodal services. He has held that role since 2002. Prior to that, Chris served as the Chief Operating Officer of Schneider National, and he has also served as its Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

Prior to his time at Schneider National, Chris held engineering and management roles with Symantec Corporation and Motorola Inc.

Chris serves on the boards of Schneider National, the American Transportation Research Institute, CA Technologies, the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Green Bay Chapter of the Boys and Girls Club of America, and the American Trucking Associations Inc.

Chris has a bachelor of science and master of science degrees in Industrial and Management Engineering from Montana State University and a Ph.D in Industrial and System Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Among other topics, Gaurav discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:

How, other than ERP and Supply Chain, all other capabilities can’t get to the Cloud fast enough
The CIO Council that acts as advisors to SnapLogic’s strategic direction
The criticality of the “snap”- an open ecosystem of connectivity to drive business integration
How those companies that embrace, rather than fight, the changing technology landscape are those that will succeed
The evolution of the role of the CIO into the “Chief Integration Officer” and capability orchestrator
The pressing need for more business-minded data scientists to fuel the next wave of insight
Eye on Trends: The potential of leveraging the Cloud and Big Data together, the potential to access customers and employees in new ways through mobile technologies, and how Analytics will evolve from Business Intelligence to influence everything from pricing, to fraud detection, to product optimization

Gaurav Dhillon’s Biography

Gaurav is the Chairman and CEO of SnapLogic, an enterprise application and data integration software development company that helps organizations connect business applications and Web services. Gaurav had been an early investor in the company and joined it as CEO in 2009.

Gaurav is also the Chairman and founder of online movie site Jaman. Jaman enables users to download full-length feature films to their computers, using the company’s proprietary video player.

Prior to SnapLogic and Jaman, Gaurav was a co-founder and CEO of Informatica, an early player in the data integration space. Under his leadership, Informatica grew from an idea into a leading public enterprise software company with customers and operations around the globe. He led Informatica through its initial launch, its successful IPO in April of 1999, expansion into Europe and Asia, establishment of alliances with major technology players, and ultimately a broad acceptance of the vision he pioneered in the software industry by the time he left in 2004.

Prior to co-founding Informatica, Gaurav spent time at Sterling Software and at Unisys Corporation.

Gaurav has a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Punjab University.

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