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.

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WestRock Digital Chief Amir Kazmi on Creating a Sustainable Supply Chain

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.

A Passwordless Future: Transmit Security President Rakesh Loonkar on the Identity Experience

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.

Journey to CEO: Fifth Third Bancorp Executives on the Expanding Role of the CIO

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 Jessy 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.

Amazon Unbound: Bestselling Author Brad Stone on Telling the Amazon Story

600: In this interview, Seth Godin, bestselling author of The Practice, focuses on what it means to be an artist and navigating your journey as one. Seth begins by describing himself as a teacher and why the term “art” should be broadly applied beyond traditional forms of visual art. He shares how instituting a process causes flow and success as a writer as opposed to flow causing process and describes the three foundations of art: curiosity, generosity, and connection. Seth shares why consistency in art is crucial and how the internet helps aspiring artists find the smallest viable audience for their work to navigate and pivot their journey. He gives his perspective on the importance of having constraints and being able to find joy in the challenge to work with them. Additionally, Seth opines on the concept of Imposter Syndrome, the myth of writer’s block, and building skill over-relying on talent, among other topics.

Bestselling Author Seth Godin on Practice and Process in Art

599: In this interview, Dean Del Vecchio; Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief of Operations at Guardian Life; focuses on the expansion of the CIO role in company innovation, customer experience, and infrastructure modernization. Dean provides an overview of his responsibilities as CIO and Chief of Operations and how his responsibilities have expanded over the course of his career. He discusses the company’s Guardian on the Go Strategy as it relates to enabling employees for successful remote work and the future of remote and hybrid work environments. He gives his perspective on how remote work leveled the playing field for employees and how this might work in a hybrid work environment. Additionally, Dean talks about how culture plays a critical role in innovation and how to develop and upskill talent to foster innovation, and areas where innovation is crucial including the evolving customer digital experience. Finally, he shares how his team looks at modernizing the company’s IT Infrastructure, how ecosystems can benefit efforts in innovation, as well as trends in technology he has his eye on, among other topics.

Guardian Life CIO Dean Del Vecchio on How Hurricane Sandy Prepared them for COVID

598: In this interview, Sri Donthi, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Advance Auto Parts, focuses on consumer-centric automotive innovation and building a modern enterprise architecture. Sri begins with his purview as CTO at Advanced Auto Parts and talks about the company’s overall vision for the industry. He gives insight into new ways of doing business digitally, how his team looks to retrain current staff on the necessary skills in this digital model, and the role data and digital play in meeting evolving expectations in employee and customer experiences. Additionally, Sri shares his team’s three approaches to modernizing enterprise architecture: fix, build, and transform. Finally, Sri speaks to some of the emerging trends in the industry and technology that he is excited about in the future.

Modernizing Enterprise Architecture with Advance Auto Parts CTO Sri Donthi

597: Mamatha Chamarthi, Head of Software Business and Product Management P&L at Stellantis, focuses on the future of autonomous vehicles. Mamatha explains her purview as Head of Software Business & Product Management P&L and describes a trend she sees of technology leaders taking on greater responsibilities on the business and P&L side of the enterprise. She gives insight into the growing opportunities for advancement in autonomous driving and electric vehicles, the coopetition and ecosystems necessary in attaining higher levels of autonomy, and where we are in the journey towards Level 4 and 5 automation. Finally, Mamatha talks about how her global work experience shapes her leadership style, why it is important to have women leaders in technology and business, and what additional trends in technology her team looks to leverage in the future.

Road to Autonomous Driving with Stellantis CIO turned P&L Leader Mamatha Chamarthi

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.

How Intel Labs Managing Director Rich Uhlig Delivers Breakthrough Innovations

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.

How Zendesk CIO Colleen Berube is Enhancing the Customer & Employee Experience

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.

AMD CTO Mark Papermaster on Driving Exponential Growth in Compute

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.

UNFI CIO Jack Clare on New Opportunities in Food Distribution

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.

Mosaic CIO Jeff Wysocki on The Five-Pronged IT Strategy

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.

Global CIO of Fresenius Anjana Harve on the Business Use of 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.

Marvell Semiconductor CIO Adhir Mattu on the Role of IT in Growth and M&A Integration

Weekly conversations with top executives and thought leaders at the intersection of business, technology, and innovation. Each episode of Technovation explores the technology trends that are transforming business, and the leaders driving digital change inside their organizations. Produced by Metis Strategy and hosted by firm President Peter High, Technovation is the premier podcast for IT and technology professionals with the largest collection of interviews with elite CIOs, CTOs, and CDOs.

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Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

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