573: In this interview, Ken Spangler, EVP of IT & CIO of OpCo Technologies at FedEx, focuses on the culture of innovation at FedEx. Ken describes how his experiences serving as CIO for each of FedEx’s businesses has given him a unique perspective on the firm’s principles to compete collectively, operate independently, and manage collaboratively. He talks about how the company fosters innovation and focuses on what he calls “Constructive Dissatisfaction” in the company. Further, Ken speaks to the culture of FedEx, what it means to still be a founder-led company, and FedEx’s People-Service-Profit model. Additionally, Ken gives his perspective on how FedEx went through four phases of learning due to the pandemic, what the return to work looks like, and a variety of other topics.
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558: In this interview, Richard Cox, Chief Information Officer of Cox Enterprises, and Rick Rioboli, Chief Information Officer of Comcast, discuss how both executives are rethinking the employee experience for a new world of work. Rick shares his view on the future of work and why he thinks Comcast will work in a hybrid model once the pandemic is over, the cultural differences Rick has noticed between product development teams and IT teams, and how Rick went after the culture in IT when he joined Comcast and sought to transform the way the function worked. We also discuss how Richard defines leadership, why Cox Enterprises is putting cybersecurity at the top of mind for all of its employees, not just those in IT, among a variety of other topics.
554: Rob Carter, the Executive Vice President of FedEx Information Services and the Chief Information Officer for FedEx, and Steve Randich, the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of FINRA, discuss the role of technology in creating a nimble enterprise. Rob shares the story of how technology that once provided FedEx with a competitive advantage had become outdated, and the massive effort the company undertook to overhaul and modernize its legacy technology. Meanwhile, Steve discusses the benefits of being an early adopter of the cloud, how FINRA is pushing up against the limits of Amazon Web Services, and FINRA’s use of advanced analytics and machine learning to better identify fraud and bad actors.
552: Shailesh Prakash, the CIO and Chief Product Officer of the Washington Post, and Chintan Mehta, the CIO and Head of Digital, Technology, and Innovation for Wells Fargo, discuss strategy and its role in driving growth and innovation. Shailesh discusses how IT and engineering went from being a cost center to being a strategic differentiator and driver of business growth. He goes on to share the story of Arc Publishing and Zeus Technologies, which grew from internal solutions into sizable revenue drivers with over 200 customers. Meanwhile, Chintan shares his view on the importance of long-term strategic planning and how the company’s Strategy, Digital Platform & Innovation (SDI) group set strategy across the organization.
549: Seth Cohen, the global CIO of PepsiCo, leads IT for one of the largest beverage companies in the world. In this interview, we discuss the main difference between digital and analog companies along with PepsiCo’s digital agenda. We discuss how data strategy has evolved over the past 5-10 years, and a bit about PepsiCo’s own data journey. Lastly, we discuss cross-cultural communications lessons Seth has learned from living all over the world, the benefits of an East to West innovation path, PepsiCo’s experience switching to an entirely remote workforce, among a variety of other topics.
548: Kimberly Johnson and Rob Alexander have both been part of massive transformations at Fortune 100 companies. In this interview, we focus on people and talent strategy. Rob discusses how Capital One’s talent transformation was critical in supporting the company’s massive technology transformation, which has included insourcing IT and building technology internally as well as moving its data centers to the cloud. Meanwhile, Kimberly discusses the importance of teamwork in driving innovation, and how Fannie Mae rapidly responded to enable teams to continue collaborating during the COVID pandemic.
544: Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of GE, spent over 15 years running one of the world’s largest companies. In this interview, Jeff discusses his experience growing up professionally at GE, Jeff’s relationship with his predecessor and legendary CEO, Jack Welch, and Jeff’s story ascending to the CEO role. We discuss why Jeff decided to write the book about his time at GE, two things Jeff would have done differently if he had the chance to do them over again, and the digital push Jeff made as CEO. Lastly, we discuss what Jeff misses most about his time at GE, Jeff’s views on the global economy going forward, Jeff’s advice to younger individuals at the beginning of their careers, among a variety of other topics.
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517: Wells Fargo Head of Technology Saul Van Beurden discusses
Among a variety of other topics.
510: IBM President and former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst discusses
507: Honeywell Chief Digital Technology Officer Sheila Jordan discusses
