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523: Stanley Black & Decker CIO Rhonda Gass discusses Why Rhonda formed an enterprise IT organization to consolidate all of IT across the company  Why Rhonda has aligned IT to the company’s three strategic pillars: financial performance, innovation, and responsibility The company’s North Star innovation model, which has the data platform positioned at the core and 4 interconnected platforms Ways in which IT’s standardization and modernization helped prepare the company for the pandemic The company’s 4 top priorities once the pandemic hit Rhonda’s path to a public board Her advice to others wishing to do the same Among a variety of other topics. 

522: Alexion Pharmaceuticals SVP & CIO George Llado discusses The company’s journey from on-premise to the cloud and the benefits that provided Alexion’s secret sauce to change management The firm’s close relationship with external partners Why Alexion invests in smaller companies The risk George took on Zoom back in 2016 The win-win partnership between Alexion and the smaller companies it invests in and works with We discuss some of the lessons George has taken from the pandemic How the social injustices that came to light this year are not new George’s take on new and emerging digital tools Among a variety of other topics. 

521: Cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch discusses  Dmitri’s perspectives on the recent US government hack believed by many to have originated in Russia, including  Why the hack was not an act of war but instead was traditional espionage Why this hack has potential to be 100X as significant as the OPM hack Some of the silver linings of the hack How organizations can protect themselves from adversaries, including  Why every organization needs to start with the assumption that an attacker is already inside Why trying to build walls around the perimeter of your network is futile The importance of planning regularly to defend a cyber attack The importance of using a password manager Why individuals should be suspicious of emails and not click attachments from unknown people Why our government is at its weakest point to be able to respond to this threat Among a variety of other topics.

520: AltaGas SVP & CDO Paul Selway discusses  The opportunity Paul sees for the oil and gas industry to adopt new technologies The significance of Paul’s title change from chief information officer to chief digital officer Some of the strategic priorities for Paul’s team as he has taken the CDO role Some of the external partnerships the company has formed as it has looked to embrace analytics Why Calgary is one of the world’s best kept secrets in the technology landscape How the company’s future of work program allowed it to have a more seamless transition to work from home once the pandemic struck Paul’s view on the future of the mobile workforce Some of the emerging technologies on Paul’s mind, including 5G, AR, VR, drones, and blockchain Among a variety of other topics. 

519: Lenovo CIO Art Hu discusses several of the themes from our upcoming book, Getting to Nimble, including Process, Technology, and Strategy. Art describes how Lenovo has managed the shift from a project to a product-focused IT management mindset and shares lessons learned from that change. We also discuss how Lenovo is using cloud technology to improve key applications and explore how Art ensures IT and business strategy remain aligned; among other topics.

518: BECU credit union executive vice president and chief information officer Fumbi Chima discusses Her career path as a woman of color The legacy she wants to leave The value Fumbi gained growing up and living in many continents of the world How Fumbi brings her whole self to each role she has taken on  Why organizations have no choice but to change following the pandemic Why companies need technologists on their boards if they are going to survive over the next five to ten years A bit about the technologist’s role on boards How being on a board helps Fumbi in her day job Among a variety of other topics.

517: Wells Fargo Head of Technology Saul Van Beurden discusses The defensive and offensive roles the technology team runs The company’s Six S strategy, which stands for skills, secure, stable, scale, speed, and satisfaction Wells Fargo’s three pillared innovation strategy Saul’s view on quantum computing The natural partnership between big banks and Fintechs Wells Fargo’s response to the pandemic Some of the indelible marks Saul believes will and won’t remain once we return to normal Why we need to be careful that we are using AI ethically Saul’s lessons for effective cross-cultural communication Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes

516: Copart’s CTO & SVP of Technology Rama Prasad discusses: The company’s transformation to modernize its technology  How the company has transitioned to a mobile workforce The implications of switching to a gig economy Why Copart keeps a closer eye on companies in other markets than those in its own industry Copart’s partnership with Twilio Some aspects of Copart’s strategic plan Why WhatsApp is tremendously underutilized in Rama’s estimation Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes

515: Cox Enterprises chief information officer Richard Cox discusses Richard’s interactions with the division CIOs of Cox Enterprises and how they work together Why Richard is focused on building a holistic strategy Some of IT’s focus areas for 2021 The digital acceleration driven by the pandemic The importance of having relentless and transparent communication during times like these Richard’s experience working for the City of Atlanta during a major cyberattack Some of Cox Enterprises’ diversity and inclusion efforts Richard’s take on RPA, AI, and data analytics Among a variety of other topics. _________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes and SECURITI.ai.

514: Cognizant EVP of strategy and technology Anil Cheriyan discusses  Cognizant’s three pillared strategy around accelerating digital, globalizing Cognizant, and increasing its relevance to its clients Cognizant’s approach to partnering with other companies The pros and cons of being onboarded virtually The changes driven by the pandemic that will be permanent Some of the emerging technologies Anil is keeping an eye on Anil’s experience working for the Federal Government Among a variety of other topics. _________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes and SECURITI.ai.

513: Signet Jewelers EVP & Global CIO Howard Melnick discusses Why Howard joined Signet Jewelers The company’s path to brilliance strategy, which has been focused on 1) customer-first, 2) omnichannel with a digital focus, and 3) building a culture of agility and efficiency How COVID served as an accelerant for the company’s digital strategy How IT has leveraged centers of excellence to achieve agility and efficiency at scale Why measuring business value is the most important metric businesses should focus on How the company uses analytics to help maximize return How augmented reality allows customers to try on a ring from home How the company enabled its jewelry consultants to keep working during the pandemic Among a variety of other topics. _________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes and SECURITI.ai.

512: Securiti.ai CEO Rehan Jalil discusses Five problems companies are facing brought on by the explosion of data Three of the biggest challenges in discovering sensitive data: the diversity of the systems, the massive scale of data, and the attack surface The most common ways threat actors can breach data Some of the ways companies can handle data internally to protect themselves from cyber attacks Individuals’ legal rights to their data Among a variety of other topics. _________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes

511: Juniper Networks CIO Sharon Mandell discusses  The importance of being in a company whose products you believe in, understand, and can talk credibly about How Sharon’s background as a software engineer helps her as a CIO How the distinction between what goes on inside the walls of a company and how the product is delivered is becoming increasingly blurred Sharon’s decision to get an MBA to better understand how business people think How Juniper uses the cloud and AI We discuss how Juniper Networks has responded to the pandemic The measures it has taken to keep its employees safe Sharon’s experience being on boarded during the pandemic Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes

510: IBM President and former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst discusses The differences in IBM and Red Hat’s culture Why they are looking to inject cultural elements from each other into their own operating models The three cultural characteristics IBM wants to drive: entrepreneurial spirit, growth mindset, and radical candor Why IBM decided to spin out the managed services business Why Red Hat is separate from IBM The importance and potential of AI How IBM thinks about where it’s going to invest versus where it’s going to rely on open source Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Sykes

509: Domino’s Pizza SVP & Chief Innovation Officer Dennis Maloney Domino’s remarkable transformation over the past decade focused on product, technology, and customer experience.  The advantages the company gained by insourcing talent that was once outsourced Why Domino’s considers itself an e-commerce company that sells pizza rather than a pizza company that sells online.  The steps Domino’s has taken to create a memorable customer experience both in-store and online How recent innovations positioned Domino’s to quickly become a consumer safety leader during the pandemic Why the company is filling in potholes in every state in the US How Domino’s is preparing for autonomous delivery The consumer preference changes that are here to stay post-pandemic Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes

508: MIT CISR Executive Director Peter Weill discusses  The two roles of a technology leader: To manage technology and to help differentiate their enterprises.  Some of the education programs CISR has for management teams to increase digital savviness Some of the long-term implications the pandemic will have on the world The results and implications from several of the machine learning based studies done by CISR that show that less than half of CIOs or CTOs and less than a quarter of boards are digitally savvy The importance of having at least three digital savvy directors on a board The three major aspects of a board The value of having CIOs on boards Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes

507: Honeywell Chief Digital Technology Officer Sheila Jordan discusses  Why data is the currency of any digital transformation How the IT organization moved from being 69% outsourced, to much more heavily insource How the pandemic has supplied the market with a significant amount of world class talent How Honeywell has successfully identified, hired, and onboarded new employees during the pandemic Why video is here to stay The increasing importance of security in a remote workforce An overview of Honeywell’s connected enterprise The state of the union of women in IT Sheila’s take on AI Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes

506: ThoughtTrace CEO Nick Vandivere The problems ThoughtTrace solves for its customers How the company uses AI to create extraordinarily detailed models for natural language processing for highly specific use cases Why some people miss the progress made in the realm of AI due to the future promise of artificial general intelligence Why we should embrace incrementalism with AI Why you do not need a degree from a top technology school to be effective with AI and data science tools The right and wrong way to approach AI when first starting out Why companies should ask if they have the requisite data in-house to build a durable AI model, rather than if they have a large enough quantity of data Nick’s path from being an Army officer to a CEO Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes

505: Duke Energy CIO Bonnie Titone discusses How Duke Energy uses data An overview of Lighthouse, the company’s enterprise digital transformation program.  How Duke Energy’s people-focused approach towards digital transformation helped set the company up well to deal with COVID  How the pandemic has accelerated the digital and technology transformation for many companies We discuss Bonnie’s view on the state of women in technology How AI and other technologies can be used to modernize the energy sector Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes

504: Allstate CTO Chris Gates & Tenet Healthcare CIO Paola Arbour discuss How Allstate matured its approach to AI How the company introduced voice technology and machine learning in its claims process How Paola and Tenant Healthcare view technology’s role in healthcare How the company engages external partners to help it think differently about the speed at which it makes decisions Among a variety of other topics. ___________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Zoho and Sykes