Innovation and the Digital Enterprise

In this episode of the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Shelli and Patrick chat about industry advancements and leadership with Deepak Kaimal, Chief Technology Officer at COMPLY. He was previously CTO at Exostar, and held that role when this episode was recorded.Exostar, founded in 2000 by industry leaders like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, provides secure collaboration and risk management solutions to the defense and life sciences sectors. Deepak shares his journey from an engineering student in Mumbai to becoming the CTO of this pivotal player in secure technology.We discuss Exostar's mission, the balance between secure collaboration and innovation, and trends in identity and access management. Deepak emphasizes the importance of curiosity, dealing with change, and leading teams in ways that foster a culture that balances trust, security, and innovation.(00:25) Meet Deepak Kaimal(02:49) Deepak's Early Education and Career Journey(07:05) The Founding and Mission of Exostar(10:40) Balancing Security and Innovation at Exostar(16:11) Trends in Identity and Access Management(18:17) Leadership and Technological (22:35) The Excitement of New Tech Advancements(29:13 Final Thoughts and Advice for LeadersDeepak Kaimal is currently the Chief Technology Officer at COMPLY, a compliance solution provider for global financial services firms. Previously, at Exostar, he oversaw the design, development, operations and evolution of The Exostar Platform. Prior to Exostar, Deepak served as CTO at ArrowStream and VP of Engineering at Flexera. Earlier in his career, Deepak held roles at Cars.com, JPMorgan Chase, Rolls-Royce, Capgemini, and Intiqua International.  He earned a degree in Engineering from the University of Mumbai.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Today we talk with Jeff Miller, Chief Product Officer at Coates Group, about his extensive experience in retail and restaurant technology, emphasizing the role of digital transformation in enhancing customer and employee experiences across Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs). We explore the integration of digital and in-store experiences, the significance of mobile ordering and loyalty programs, along with the challenges of managing a complex partner ecosystem.Looking forward, Patrick, Shelli, and Jeff discuss AI-driven innovations, the transition from static to dynamic digital environments, and the physical and technological trends that are reshaping the industry.Jeff highlights the importance of scalable innovation, and goes deep on his commitment to balancing technological advancements, while maintaining essential human connections.(00:27) Meet Jeff Miller(01:21) Jeff's Role at Coates Group(03:51) From Construction Engineering to Tech Consulting(11:28) Innovations in the QSR Space(15:28) Global Growth and Customer Connection(15:41) Evolution of Menu Boards(16:17) Optimizing Customer Experience(17:54) Challenges in Restaurant Technology(19:29) Traditional vs. New QSRs(25:42) Future of Customer InteractionsJeff Miller is the Chief Product Officer at Coates Group, and former Vice President of Retail Technology at Foxtrot. He has more than a decade of expertise in the retail and restaurant technology space, specializing in creating modern in-store experiences that seamlessly integrate with digital technology to enhance customer experiences. Prior to his leadership roles, Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

On today’s show, we chat with Kal Walkden, the Vice President of Product Engineering at Double Good. Double Good’s virtual fundraising app connects teams with their supporters to help athletes, coaches, and students raise funds through popcorn sales. Focusing on seamless ease-of-use for both the fundraisers and their supporters, Double Good turns online snack sales into “uniforms, safety pads, cleats, calculators, test tubes, travel opportunities, and brand new experiences.”Kal's extensive expertise in product and technology leadership has been vital in advancing Double Good’s mission. He talks to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise about how Double Good's virtual platform flourished during the pandemic, a key pivot during a moment that challenged traditional in person fundraising. Kal explains the significance of user-centered design, and the adoption of the Spotify engineering model to enhance his team’s efficiency. We talk hiring practices, core values, future growth strategies, and how Kal’s 25+ years of hands-on leadership has successfully shaped tech-driven organizations.(00:25) Meet Kal Walkden: VP of Product Engineering at Double Good(01:13) Double Good's Journey and Success(06:09) The Spotify Engineering Model(13:51) Implementing the Spotify Model at Double Good(19:38) Challenges and Future GoalsKal Walkden is the Vice President of Product Engineering at Double Good. His past roles include Chief Technology Officer at Paladin; Head of Engineering at HelloFresh; CTO at Lextegrity; CTO at ForeverCar. He currently serves as a mentor at Code Platoon. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Engineering and a Masters in Parallel and Distributed Computing both from Northwestern University. If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

“It’s marketing through people instead of at them,” says Emily Steele, CEO and Co-founder of Hummingbirds. In this episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise we talk with Emily about how Hummingbirds is leveraging hyperlocal content creators to drive brand awareness and sales.Emily shares her journey from running a local marketing agency to founding Hummingbirds, emphasizing the power of word-of-mouth marketing and community-driven content. She explains Hummingbirds’ unique approach of fostering relationships between local businesses and hyperlocal content creators, who serve as community-scale advocates for the brand.We discuss how in our oversaturated digital marketing landscape, Hummingbirds delivers meaningful, authentic, relationship-driven results. We close our conversation chatting about Emily’s future goals and plans for growth, and the challenge of scaling while maintaining that authenticity.(01:28) Emily Steele on the beginnings of Hummingbirds(02:36) The power of local influence(08:12) Scaling, Community Building and Exploring new verticals(11:51) The Hummingbirds community(16:52) Emily's journey to entrepreneurship(18:13) Building a successful brand and Achieving rapid growth(20:36) Strategies for success(24:38) Measuring impact and ROI(27:44) Exciting opportunities ahead(30:29) Fun facts about HummingbirdsEmily Steele is the CEO and Co-founder of Hummingbirds, a SaaS company helping brands connect to local customers through digital word-of-mouth marketing. Before launching Hummingbirds, Emily proved a passionate advocate for local Des Moines businesses as the owner of Love Local. She has a Bachelor's in business administration, from Drake University, and studied at Richmond, the American International University in London. When she’s not championing local business, she helps organize The Water Ride, an annual bike ride that raises funds for clean water efforts in Ghana.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Wouldn’t it be great if your boss had a user guide for achieving success under their leadership? Ann Yeung’s team at GEICO, where she serves as the Vice President of Engineering, Head of Enterprise Engineering, received one. In her “user guide,” Ann shares her expectations, values, and tools for successful collaboration that go well beyond pet peeves to establish communicative, empowered teams. In this episode, Ann discusses her transition to GEICO and the critical role of managing corporate functions during transformation. She shares her journey from individual contributor to leader and how she applies the lessons she’s learned along the way. Ann offers how her perspective has changed over time, (ex. how experience is important but unique application to any particular scenario is key) and outlines how her leadership values match her personal values: integrity, transparency, and direct communication. As a leader, Ann ensures that her approach includes two critical elements: understanding the problem from the lens of the business stakeholders and carving out time for reflection. Ann discusses welcoming feedback and challenging her teams with growth opportunities with intentional mentorship. She discusses how, as an engineer at heart, her love of data couples with empirical evidence to guide her decision making and the importance of responsible leadership. (2:10) – Enterprise engineering at GEICO(4:22) – Playbook for success(8:46) – Transition to leadership(13:46) – “Ann Yeung User Guide”(20:47) – Building relationships and trust(23:34) – Opening the door to feedback(27:52) – Recovery (30:09) – Decision-making(32:06) – Empowering your teamAnn Yeung is the Vice President of Engineering, Head of Enterprise Engineering at GEICO. Ann is a senior technology executive and business strategist with over twenty years of experience in various industries, including roles at Northwestern Mutual, Capital One, and US Foods. She is the Director of Women Who Code Chicago Network and serves on the Board of Directors for Chinese American Service League and STEM Forward. Ann earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Does the “I don’t know how we’re gonna do this?” feeling ever fade? In large-scale transformation, Megan Williams, VP of Global Technology Strategy and Transformation at TransUnion, doesn’t think so. Leading global, multi-year transformation programs continues to prompt the major questions: What is our vision? What is the approach? With over 20 years of experience, the initial intimidation remains, but Megan and her teams persist. In this episode, Megan shares how guiding TransUnion’s transformation from on-premise data centers to the cloud has evolved over her four years from a “lift and shift” to a modernization transformation. Growing up in South Africa, Megan’s career has spanned three continents giving her an exceptional glimpse into the work cultures of different countries. Megan highlights the similarities (think: personalities) and differences (think: daily schedule) that she’s experienced and the importance of relating to teams across the globe. Diving deeper into leadership, Megan discusses how her approach can be summed up as vulnerability and transparency. How can she make thousands feel like six people in a garage? She embraces public conversations and welcomes a challenging question. Megan offers a glimpse into her leadership style with a story of how her continued presence at a daily call had a surprising result and how adjustment is necessary when your intentions fall out of alignment with your impact. Megan shares how effective communication can lean on conversation and support from different ways of connecting.(01:40) – Joining TransUnion(05:05) – Journey to technology(10:52) – A career across three continents(15:00) – Large transformation programs(18:57) – Vulnerability and transparency(24:51) – “Overcommunication”Megan Williams is the VP of Global Technology Strategy and Transformation at TransUnion. She has over 20 years of experience spanning software development to leading global, multi-year transformations and implementing large, complex program delivery in fast-paced technical industries. Megan earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Out of approximately 5,000 lending institutions nationwide, Srikanth Geedipalli and the team at Experian have developed relationships with 3,000 of them, and the list continues to grow. As Senior Vice President of AI Product Management and Commercialization, Srikanth is spearheading the productization and democratization of data. In this episode, Srikanth explains how he promotes innovation at Experian, accounting for its size, role as a trusted brand, and regulated and compliance-oriented processes. He shares his career journey in three parts—banker, strategy executor, and AI and analytics executive—and how the positionalities create a full picture of the issues he’s trying to solve. Srikanth shares how Experian has embraced its rich data history in building analytic and AI ecosystems that have made these resources more affordable to clients beyond the big banks.As a leader, Srikanth endorses the “crawl, walk, run” method on the boldest visions. He shares how to balance focusing on niche solutions and a wider vision. Srikanth discusses how he encourages his team to move as quickly as possible and how rapid innovation can continue to push boundaries and work symbiotically with approval chains and compliance.In discussing artificial intelligence, Srikanth shares how he sees the future of AI, specifically gen AI, its rapidly approaching role in all products, an anticipated boom of gen AI agents, and how to embrace the transformative technology in your life and for the next generation.(03:30) – Journey to Experian(05:45) – Productizing and democratizing data(09:26) – Innovation in a large organization(12:58) – Engendering trust and confidence(15:57) – Having a big vision(17:13) – Client profile(19:44) – Inspiration (21:19) – Acting like a small business(24:33) – Team incentives(28:28) – Where is gen AI heading? (31:30) – Gen AI agents(33:32) – What should you do?Srikanth Geedipalli is the Senior Vice President of AI Product Management and Commercialization at Experian. Previously, he served as Head of US Strategy at BMO Financial Group, a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company, and an analytics leader at Capital One. Srikanth earned an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Sticky notes might be the key to successful leadership. Christina Garcia, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Echo Global Logistics, keeps a few posted nearby with essential reminders to guide her in difficult moments. When leading teams of engineers attempting to disrupt the logistics space grows challenging, having a reminder of foundational leadership tools can be the key to accurately identifying an issue and swift resolution. In this episode, Christina discusses determining what to build and creating team-wide investment in its success. She considers the role of research and development from pie-in-the-sky projects to simpler, value-adding solutions. Christina offers her perspective on building narrative and encouraging engineers and developers to witness the value firsthand. (For example, “If your grandmother was in the store shopping, what is the experience you’d like her to have with the software?”) Considering culture, Christina dives into a culture of accountability and being a champion of quality. She shares her thoughts on shifting left, the results she’s seen in earlier testing processes, and searching for the root cause of an issue. Alongside accountability, Christina identifies key areas of success like avoiding silos of communication and leaning on creativity in strategic planning. She offers her perspective on leading a team of passionate engineers and her approach to leading the group through transition (ex. one-on-one time with everyone). One key to her team’s success at Echo: carrying the load together. Speaking on leadership, Christina shares how to work across different strengths and mindsets, build trust, set clear expectations, embrace vulnerability, and ask for help. (01:30) – Echo(02:52) – Finding software(05:15) – Building the right things(08:52) – Narrative(10:36) – Witnessing the value(13:00) – Shifting left(15:13) – Recognizing the hurdles(16:15) – Little leadership reminders(17:38) – Leading engineers(19:57) – Building passionate teams(22:57) – Setting clear expectations(27:17) – Creative solutions and planning(32:30) – Asking for helpChristina Garcia is a Senior Vice President of Engineering at Echo Global Logistics. Her technology and business expertise have led to career achievements in engineering, strategic technology implementation, and leadership, including positions at Capital One, SEQR, Sears Holdings Corporation, and OfficeMax. Christina earned a bachelor’s degree in computer software engineering and a master’s degree in e-commerce at DePaul University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Joining a new company and being tasked with adding value and building high-performing teams starts with one key question: what is the organizational structure? Experienced technology leader Dan Kirsche has recently joined Chamberlain Group as the Senior Vice President of Software Engineering after a robust career of leading software engineers. With innovation and team building on his mind, Dan shares key lessons in culture-creating behaviors, embracing disagreement, and successful leadership. In this episode, Dan discusses the importance of properly structured autonomous teams. He reflects on how leadership on these small teams can smoothly operate and their recommended size. Dan shares how these teams are the fundamental building blocks and that creating the right culture at the team level is essential. As a leader, Dan reveals that a continued focus on quality means that he is looped in when production issues are being discussed (Leaders, join the Slack channel!) and how strong leaders must be familiar with the severity and frequency of these issues. Beyond focusing on quality, Dan dives into additional values he seeks to find in team members growing into leadership positions. He shares how pushing into an area of discomfort is key while sharing actionable mentorship strategies for providing those challenging and meaningful growth opportunities. Acknowledging how difficult tech leadership can be, Dan discusses the role of accountability and ownership, including how leaders must demonstrate the ability to receive feedback. Dan shares how opinionated, strategically disagreeable team members add value and, alongside other qualities that make them enjoyable to work with, are key members of teams that quickly find the right answers.(01:40) – Leading software engineering at Chamberlain Group(04:20) – Driving better practices(06:57) – Culture-creating behaviors(09:52) – A focus on quality(13:28) – Organization culture vs. team culture(16:05) – Accountability and ownership(19:47) – Embracing discomfort(23:42) – Building opinionated and innovative teams(29:14) – A willingness to disagree(30:57) – On leadershipDan Kirsche is an experienced technology executive and Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Chamberlain Group. Previously, he was the Chief Technology Officer at CURO Financial Technologies Corp and lead software engineering at Enova International, project44, and Groupon. Dan earned his MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.

At the start of summer last year, we had a really inspiring conversation with Christopher Paquette and are excited to reshare it this year, in our “Best Of” series. Originally published 06/29/23.Tasked with accelerating digital transformation at Allstate, Christopher Paquette recognizes the digital potential embedded everywhere. Reflecting on his first year as Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Allstate, Christopher shares essential lessons in collaboration, creating value for the customer, and transformation strategy. In this episode, Christopher discusses focus areas of connectivity, automation, decisioning, and pattern recognition. He gives examples of analysis indicators and the various speeds of digital transformation. Christopher dives into the idea of influence when your discipline is not siloed and discusses his passion for community building through music and music education.(01:42) – Introducing Christopher Paquette(03:21) – Digital transformation(07:04) – Decisioning(09:11) – Relationship building and collaboration(13:34) – Influence (18:10) – Outcomes and determining the “why”(21:51) – Indicators: starts, containment, and satisfaction(24:40) – Beginning a role in Q2(26:01) – Dedication to music and The People’s Music SchoolChristopher Paquette is the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Allstate. Previously, Christopher served as a Partner at McKinsey & Company for twelve years. His over two-decade career has orbited strategy, digital, and analytics. Christopher earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

We had a fascinating conversation with Deborah Spence-Cummings in late 2022 and are excited to reshare it in our “Best Of” series. Originally published 12/01/22.Only an exceptional innovator would look at a burgeoning career in operations and pause to examine their reputation and evaluate their goals. With the help of an executive coach, Deborah Spence-Cummings did just that and now serves as the Director of AI/ML Operations at Apple. Deborah shares how she used an engineering mindset developed at MIT and Northwestern to drive her career progression through positions in operations, planning, project management, sales, and now, artificial intelligence and machine learning. In this conversation with Pat and Shelli, Deborah also discusses her contributions to the innovative processes at Apple and NAVTEQ and how she navigated her career when obvious opportunities did not appear.(01:27) – Machine learning and AI(08:09) – Studying material science(11:38) – Journey to NAVTEQ(18:14) – Taking on different roles(21:45) – Working with an executive coach(26:51) – The engineering of sales(28:33) – Approach to leadership(30:27) – Advocates in your networkDeborah Spence-Cummings is the Director of AI/ML Operations at Apple. She has previously held executive and senior roles at HERE Technologies and NAVTEQ across operations, planning, program management, and sales. Deborah earned a bachelor's and master's degree in materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

OKRs are easy to set up badly. Christine Sandman Stone, CEO and founder of Deliver at Scale, focuses on this key element for success based on her years leading agile transformations. Beginning with her journey, Christine shares her path to leadership and the critical lessons she’s learned—and shared—along the way.In this episode, Christine provides a glimpse into her world guiding teams to hone in on their goals. First, she offers her perspective on setting the objective and determining the quantitative measurement of that goal. Then, Christine shares the critical element of measurement periods (90 days!) and how to maintain the right outlook on pursuing these goals. Christine offers key lessons from her book The Parent Track: Work-Life Balance Hacks to Elevate Your Career and Raise Good Humans on how to continue advancing your career during parenthood. She offers tips (ex. the word “conflict” is your friend) and her experiences that led her to share those lessons. Christine dives into her most recent book that set out to provide tangible resources for new managers: The Modern Management Mentor: Next-Level Tools for New Managers, inspired by the questions she fielded during her own daughter’s promotion. Later in the conversation, Christine discusses the state of leadership and management training. She endorses the advancement of individual contributors that does not necessarily require managing people and discusses a multi-track approach. (01:38) – Introducing Christine Sandman Stone(06:18) – OKRs(09:35) – Narrowing in on the objective(13:14) – 90-day measurements(17:45) – The Parent Track(23:20) – The Modern Management Mentor(27:04) – Leadership development(33:31) – Individual contributor growth opportunitiesChristine Sandman Stone is the CEO and founder of Deliver at Scale and former Global Head of Product & Engineering, Operations & Strategy at Groupon. She has previously worked with Dell, McDonald’s, and Volkswagen. Christine is the author of The Parent Track and The Modern Management Mentor. She earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Miami University and a master’s in management and organizational behavior from Benedictine University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Should we look beyond technology organizations to learn essential lessons on how to innovate and run successful, complex technology organizations? Gene Kim believes so and contains unbridled curiosity for transformation across industries, as seen in his most recent book Wiring the Winning Organization. Gene Kim returns to share new lessons in change-making for leaders and companies tackling an array of challenges. Gene Kim is a bestselling author of several books on technology innovation, DevOps, and organizational strategy. He founded and served as CTO of Tripwire for thirteen years, an enterprise security software company, and is the founder of IT Revolution. Gene offers an engineering perspective with an executive-eye view. In this episode, Gene discusses being inspired by Toyota and his goal to lead great organizations toward the most effective, liberated problem-solving capabilities. He shares how coordination is the layer that is the difference-maker in a successful company and offers several case studies across industries. Gene highlights three key factors in a cohesive organization: 1) independence of action, 2) time (for practice and planning, and experimentation and implementation), and 3) actionable feedback that reaches the right people at the right time. Gene offers a metaphor from his book—moving a couch—that exemplifies his experience in communication and coordination. With this simple metaphor, Gene shares how small, cross-functional teams with the right number of collaborators are a great tool for success.  Join Gene in Las Vegas from August 20 to 22, 2024, at the Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit (formerly DevOps Enterprise Summit). (01:40) – Gene Kim returns(04:22) – Layer three as difference-maker(09:22) – Healthcare case studies(11:55) – Three mechanisms for a cohesion(15:04) – The CheckBox Project(20:29) – “Slowification”(26:55) – “Great in the large, great in the small”(29:03) – Specialization of roles and coordination(34:34) – The technology leader’s bossGene Kim is an author, researcher, and technology leader studying high-performing technology organizations since 1999. Gene founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of Tripwire, Inc. for thirteen years, an enterprise security software company. He is the WSJ bestselling author of Wiring the Winning Organization, The Unicorn Project, and co-author of The Phoenix Project, The DevOps Handbook, and the Shingo Publication Award-winning Accelerate. Since 2014, he has organized the Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit (formerly DevOps Enterprise Summit), studying the technology transformations of large, complex organizations.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If

We had a great conversation with David Heinemeier Hansson in 2023 and are excited to reshare it in our “Best Of” series.Originally published 11/2/23.Profound innovation has occurred across web-based communication technologies in the last decade, and truly accelerated in the years since the start of the pandemic. But David Heinemeier Hansson recognized a massively neglected arena, one we all use, every day: email. Bringing his experience as co-owner and Chief Technology Officer at 37signals (Basecamp, Ruby on Rails, and more), David launched HEY, an innovative approach to email that provides a modernized, user-first service. In this episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, David articulates a dedication to forging new paths in software and entrepreneurship.He shares important lessons in approaching remote work, including the essential pillar of embracing asynchronicity. He dives into how he structures his day for success and offers a counterpoint to the American workplace culture of bragging about busyness and 80+ hour weeks. Finally, David provides insight into the current state of cloud technology and his company’s recent—successful and swift—migration off the cloud. (01:48) – 37signals(03:27) – HEY(09:54) – Advantages(17:32) – Detecting spy pixels(19:45) – The pandemic’s impact(23:42) – Embracing asynchronicity for success(29:07) – An American culture of busyness(34:31) – Importance of sleep(38:52) – Cloud technology(46:55) – Bringing applications homeDavid Heinemeier Hansson is co-owner and Chief Technology Officer of 37signals (Basecamp & HEY), creator of Ruby on Rails, and best-selling author, including REWORK, It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work, and Remote: Office Not Required. David is a Le Mans class-winning racing driver, photographer, antitrust advocate, and investor.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Today we're sharing another insightful presentation from our most recent Innovative Executives League Summit, where Leon Chism, the Vice President of Engineering at Evolve, delivered a powerful lesson on collecting critical metrics for organization-wide success. As an experienced technologist and executive, Leon leads teams in unparalleled growth and innovation. In this presentation, Leon dives into how the collection of metrics examining speed and quality paired with human-driven evaluation and consistent reporting are the keys to success. In this episode, Leon first dives into DORA metrics and the significance of collecting and reporting those figures of speed and quality. He overviews the additional customization of the data he collects; in one example, he looks closely at aging reports to determine where processes are sticking and gains a live perspective on getting those tasks unstuck by allocating more resources. As the last place to observe metrics, Leon offers a compelling outlook on examining team balance and individual metrics. ("You want to measure the process and not the people.") In further support of optimizing processes and not people, Leon shares his perspective on leaderboards, comparison, and other human-oriented metric frameworks of note. In the final segment, Leon answers audience questions ranging from setting WIP limits (never too low), developer satisfaction, and key aspects of the communication around metrics to create a shared understanding and identify the value beyond the data. (02:16) – DORA metrics(07:39) – Aging Report(10:15) – Balance and individual metrics(12:22) – Metrics in the boardroom(13:35) – SPACE Framework(15:45) – Manual metric collection(17:19) – Developer satisfaction(18:48) – Gaming the metrics(20:26) – WIP limits(21:45) – Shared metrics and collaboration(26:00) – Hardware, software, firmware(27:05) – Communicating the metrics(28:26) – Value beyond the dataLeon Chism is the Vice President of Engineering at Evolve. As an experienced technologist and executive, he has led innovation and technology at Jellyvision, DialogTech, Rewards Network, Analyte Health, PowerReviews, and ORBITZ. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Campaign.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in

Today we’re sharing another insightful presentation from our most recent Innovative Executives League Summit, where Tanya Hannah discusses the roadmap to navigate the ever-evolving tech landscape. As a seasoned transformational business executive, Tanya offers the pillars needed to survive major shifts and thrive in the opportunities presented by them. In this episode, Tanya shares how critical a shared vision and strategy is in preparation. Teams cannot operate only with yesterday’s logic; they must look forward in anticipation of a pivot. Tanya offers how technologists can operate at the key intersection of short-term performance and long-term planning. She stresses the importance of a business perspective having a place in tech conversations and leaning into a skillset that embraces both.As an award-winning technology leader, Tanya sees a path forward that focuses on data, talent, and vision. Tanya describes how data provides the competitive advantage businesses are looking for and how the ability to manipulate and understand the data is essential for the entire team. In focusing on the team itself, Tanya addresses how people are the key factor in remaining nimble (embracing in-house talent) and how the current shift in the labor environment points to the direction companies must anticipate. As remote and hybrid work continue, Tanya dives further into how focusing on talent is not only essential but teams and individuals must have a common understanding of the shared vision and strategy for success. While acknowledging the evolving technology and the often disruptive forces that shape the world today, Tanya Hannah offers a foundation to prepare for the future with tech and talent. (01:17) – A room of disruptors(02:36) – Adaptation(04:33) – Acting with yesterday’s logic(08:40) – Preparing to pivot(10:35) – Driving business with tech(13:02) – The win-win(14:26) – Understanding data is a must(16:10) – Focusing on people(21:55) – How are we planning?Tanya Hannah has held executive and senior roles at Aon, Amazon, CSC, and King County, Washington. Tanya is a three-time CIO 100 Award winner and a 2021 National CIO of the Year. She’s a graduate of the University of Maryland.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Today we’re sharing another insightful presentation from our most recent Innovative Executives League Summit, where Desiree Vargas Wrigley, Chief Innovation Officer of P33 Chicago and Executive Director of TechRise by P33, delivered a lesson in stakeholder-centric design. Desiree overviews the challenges Chicago’s underrepresented tech founders face and the process of developing TechRise’s initiatives. Highlighting the impact of TechRise and P33, Desiree presents a galvanizing picture of Chicago-based innovation that utilizes local money to generate a cycle of loyalty, growth, and investment that leans into Chicago’s advantages. In this episode, Desiree asks: “Who succeeds when you succeed?” As an enthusiastic believer in Chicago’s potential as an innovation hub, Desiree is also unafraid to point out its shortcomings, such as the lack of popularity in social ventures and lack of recycled capital. Demonstrating a stakeholder-centric design process with the case study of TechRise, Desiree shows how focusing on the key question of identifying all the stakeholders and all the solutions that benefit them drives success. She discusses sifting through bias for actual data and the extensive discovery process that went into developing the initiatives of TechRise. Desiree articulates how re-imagining pitch competitions (frequency, environment, etc.) has opened doors for founders by acknowledging the obstacles that women founders and founders of color often face. Desiree shares her interest in conscious capitalism and asks, “What else is possible?”(1:15) – P33 Chicago(3:42) – Thinking about success(4:53) – A foundation for providing support and resources(6:57) – Stakeholder-centric design in four steps(9:36) – Funding women and founders of color(12:49) – TechRise(15:20) – Identifying solutions(16:35) – Weekly pitching(19:12) – Looking at impact(21:16) – What else is possible?Desiree Vargas Wrigley is a serial entrepreneur with a track record of empowering women and people of color in the world of investing. Desiree is the Chief Innovation Officer of P33 Chicago and Executive Director of TechRise. She is a founding partner of The Josephine Collective and previously co-founded GiveForward. Desiree earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Yale University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in

Today we’re sharing another insightful presentation from our most recent Innovative Executives League Summit, where Maya Mikhailov, Chief Executive Officer and founder of SAVVI AI, discusses machine learning as a powerful toolkit of solutions. Comparing efficiency with and without AI, she highlights how the proper tool makes the difference and cuts through assumptions. Is Chat GPT the AI tool that makes Amazon such a success? No. It is Amazon's recommendation engine built on billions of data points. Looking beyond the hype of select functionalities of machine learning, AI applications abound.In this episode, Maya introduces AI’s key practical uses, as she currently views the technology: decision automation, classification and prediction, large language models, and writing documentation and code. She emphasizes how natural language makes a query more accessible than programmatic language and shares example after example of increasing efficiency. Maya’s presentation sheds insight into where AI technologies are gaining traction (delinquencies) and continuing to grow in popularity (writing content). Maya dives into the importance of guardrails, building trust, and maintaining transparency when utilizing machine learning. She shares where AI is having massive success (summarizing data) and the problems that might emerge from AI reliance (“code bloat”). Maya discusses how when AI is wrong, it is still learning. Employing the right AI tool is essential for strategy and meeting goals.(1:40) – Machine learning(4:45) – Examining data without AI(5:41) – AI-executed tactics(7:16) – Generative AI(9:14) – Hallucinating (10:57) – The practical realities(12:41) – Decision automation(15:28) – Classifications(17:10) – Predictions(18:15) – Large language models(22:03) – Writing documentation and codeMaya Mikhailov is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of SAVVI AI. She co-founded GPShopper, which Synchrony acquired in 2017. At Synchrony, Maya served as SVP and General Manager of the Direct-to-Consumer group (FinTech AI). She has been a speaker at CES Money 2020 and CTIA and featured in Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, and other outlets. Maya served as an adjunct professor at New York University, lecturing on digital and mobile technology. She earned a bachelor's degree in international management at American University.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really helps others find the show.Podcast episode production by Dante32.

Coupling a charitable mindset and a drive to solve some of the toughest intellectual and scientific problems has led to success for P33 Chicago and founding Chief Executive Officer Brad Henderson. Serving Chicago and embracing the city’s challenges and strengths, Brad envisions the city as a hub for new technologies built on collaborative and dynamic innovation, all while embracing inclusive growth.In this episode, Brad shares the successes of P33 Chicago and TechRise’s efforts, including outlining how two million dollars invested into Black, Hispanic, and women founders led to ninety-three million in additional private financing. He discusses the lasting effects of starting a business under-capitalized and the realities of how most founders raise capital. Brad offers insight into connecting investors with opportunities where they might lack first-hand expertise or experience and the benefits of encountering and working with new people and ideas.Brad dives into ongoing success stories in Chicago (EventNoire and more), the ripe environment for a Chicago-based battery boom, the new CZ Biohub, and the aims and recent triumphs of Innovate Illinois. He shares a key component to the city's success: the collaborative spirit of the top-caliber universities. Brad paints a picture of an innovative Chicago that utilizes the abundance of college graduates and embraces scientists and thinkers across institutions working together to create new technologies funded by bold Chicago investors and building on the city’s history of innovation.(04:26) – Introducing Brad Henderson and P33 Chicago(05:52) – TechRise(07:27) – The impact of an under-capitalized start(09:45) – Proof points and coaching founders(12:05) – Success story: EventNoire(14:21) – A battery boom(18:41) – Chicago-based investors(20:34) – The impact of exceptional, collaborative universities (25:25) – Where is Chicago headed?(26:17) – Leveraging a small staff(29:38) – Chicago-based innovation and collaborationBrad Henderson is the Founding Chief Executive Officer at P33 Chicago, the forward-thinking nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating Chicago's status as a world premier hub of technological discovery and development. Brad's leadership extends to various roles on boards and advisory committees of Interfaith Youth Core (Board Chair), the College Visiting Committee at the University of Chicago, the President’s Advisory Council at the University of Illinois, the College of Computing Advisory Board at Illinois Tech, Rush University Medical Center, Rush University (Board of Governors), Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Chicago History Museum. Brad earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with honors and a master's in social science from the University of Chicago. A Rhodes Scholar, Brad also earned a master’s of science in economics and social history from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Saiid Business School at the University of Oxford.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in

Today we’re sharing another insightful presentation from our most recent Innovative Executives League Summit, where Michelangelo D’Agostino, VP of Machine Learning at Tegus, delivered a foundational lesson about large language models. Imagine you are Rip Van Winkle, as Michelangelo puts it, and you have woken up after a long sleep and encountered the current AI landscape. What have you missed? What do you need to know to move forward? Calling upon his data analysis and machine learning expertise, Michelangelo offers clear, concise insights to introduce audiences to the capabilities and shortcomings of large language models today.  In this presentation, Michelangelo integrates large language models to demonstrate their abilities. Defining the term and other critical ones (What does GPT mean?), he dives into the factors that have led to the exponential growth in these models since 2020 and details the training methodologies that led to major advances. Michelangelo covers how instruction tuning brought an exercise in probability to usefulness that will change industries.Offering insight into the challenges large language models are encountering, Michelangelo walks audiences through a “hallucination,” where the LLM offers a confident answer that is incorrect—a concerning flaw--and displays how prompt engineering generates the correct result with a minor tweak. With the input and output being natural language, Michelangelo encourages people to embrace the low barrier of entry to try out the models directly (OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Bard) by writing prompts and learning its capabilities firsthand. Michelangelo shares the areas where he’s excited about the potential of large language models and their transformative power for text-heavy industries. (00:58) – Demystifying AI(03:37) – Large language models(05:13) – Unpacking training(08:43) – Why now?(12:05) – Increased potential(14:50) – Hallucinations(16:26) – Prompt engineering(18:25) – Applications of language models(22:48) – Play around with it!Michelangelo D’Agostino is the Vice President of Machine Learning at Tegus. Previously, he held leadership roles in data and machine learning at Cameo and ShopRunner. Michelangelo’s career as a technologist career is marked by his exploration of large language models and their applications in financial text data. He studied physics, earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your...