Metis Strategy

Among other topics, Mark discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * His role and the areas under his purview within Oracle * The culture within the IT department of a major technology company * The way in which he tests and integrates new solutions to give feedback to other parts of the organization * As CIO how he acts as an initial customer to his organization, and how he can lend an empathetic ear to other customers of Oracle * Strategic priorities for the future * His service on the boards of a variety of other organizations * The digital transformation and how the role of CIO should play a strategic role in this area * Pushing the innovation agenda and how he has balanced security against innovative activities * Eye on the Trends: Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding,  the Internet of Things, and Big Data Mark Sunday’s Biography Mark Sunday is the Senior Vice President and CIO of Oracle.  In that role, Mark has responsibility over the technology infrastructure of the global organization, as well as the operational infrastructure for Oracle’s on-demand product offerings. Prior to joining Oracle, Mark served as the CIO of Siebel Systems, a customer relationship management software tool, which was acquired by Oracle in 2005.  Mark has also held roles at a variety of other technology organizations including Motorola, ST Microelectronics, and Texas Instruments. Outside of Oracle, Mark has served on several advisory boards, including Altiris (now owned by Symantec), and is also a trustee of the Utah Technology Council and Economic Development Corporation of Utah. Mark received his BSE from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Southern Methodist University

Among other topics, Abe discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The synergies between Jenny Craig and Curves and the effects of their merger * The role of IT at Jenny Craig and Curves encouraging collaboration between businesses * His responsibilities as CIO and VP of Service Operations * The unique technological demands of Jenny Craig and Curves’s core demographic * The implementation of e-business and mobile technology * The role of a CIO in a consumer facing context * Eye on the Trends: Data analytics to improve the experience and weight loss success, cloud based infrastructure, and bio-metric tracking Abe Lietz’s Biography Abe Lietz is the CIO and Vice President of Service Operations at Jenny Craig and Curves International.  Among other accomplishments, Abe has streamlined the customer service experience and spearheaded the Jenny Craig and Curves digital experience. Prior to joining Jenny Craig and Curves, Abe served as Chief Architect at Life Technologies, a provider of biotechnology services and products, best known for their offerings related to genome sequencing.  There, he was responsible for deciding and implementing the company’s IT strategy as well as managing a portfolio of software and hardware used by Life Technologies customers. Abe earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management of Information Systems at Washington State University

Among other topics, Jim discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The synergies between Jenny Craig and Curves and the effects of their merger * His role and how he prepared for his role as an interim CIO * How he drove progress during his initial time as CIO * How he ensured that IT was on the same page with business units from a strategic standpoint * The changes that are reflected in the way IT now does its work * As CIO he acts as an initial customer to his organization, and how he can lend an empathetic ear to other customers of Microsoft * Some of the ways that the IT organization is able to work across multiple levels of the organization * The strategic roadmap for the future at Microsoft (including the ongoing integration with Nokia, as well as the move to a subscription basis for major Microsoft products) * Advice on how to move from an interim CIO to a full time fit for the position * Balancing innovation and security with his background as Chief Information Security Officer for Microsoft * Eye on the Trends: Big Data, Machine learning, BYOD capabilities, Digitization Jim Dubois’ Biography Jim is the Corporate Vice President and CIO of Microsoft.  In that role, he is responsible for the company’s global security, infrastructure, IT messaging, and business applications.  Jim was appointed interim CIO in May 2013, and was appointed to the post full time in January of 2014. Jim has been with Microsoft since 1993, where he started work in various positions, including international stints in London and Tokyo.  His previous positions within Microsoft have included posts as Director of IT Client Services, General Manager of the Service Management Division, Chief Information Security Officer, and Vice President of Microsoft Products and Services (the post he held prior to becoming CIO). Before joining Microsoft, Jim worked in various positions within Accenture, where he focused on financial aid distribution systems. Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and business from the University of Washington.

Among other topics, Marc discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Overcoming the inefficiencies of the existing market and what market opportunities exist for Jet * How he defines the areas of focus for Jet.com * Some of the things he has learned from Beta testing the websit * His sources of profitability by being in a subscription model with a membership fe * His time at Quidsi and how his experiences have colored his perspective while launching another retail space ventur * The advantages of his experience in the financial world as it applies to his current wor * How he has planned his leadership team to balance strengths and weaknesse * How he plans the strategic direction of the new organization Marc Lore’s Biography Marc Lore is the Founder and CEO of Jet, the online marketplace that will take advantage of the economics of online shopping to create a new business model promising the lowest prices on the Internet. The company officially launches the day we are broadcasting, July 13, 2015. The company has raised over $220 million in funding. Prior to Jet, Marc was the Co-founder and CEO of Quidsi, the parent company of e-commerce websites Diapers.com, Soap.com, Wag.com and more. The company was founded in 2005 and sold to Amazon in 2011 for $550 million. Marc was also the Co-founder and CEO of The Pit, Inc., an internet market-making collectible company constructed as an alternative to eBay, which was sold to the Topps Company in 2001. Marc has received a wide array of industry accolades, including E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year regional winner and Fortune’s “smartest people in technology;” The Sunday Times Magazine of London named him one of Britain’s “new high-tech entrepreneurs and whiz kids.” Prior to being a serial entrepreneur, Marc held various investment banking positions, including Executive Vice President of Sanwa International Bank in London, where he was head of the bank’s Risk Management Division and Vice President of Emerging Markets Risk Management at Credit Suisse First Boston. Marc received his BA in Business Management and Economics from Bucknell University.

Among other topics, Peretz discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The Technion’s mission and its role in driving entrepreneurship and engineering success in Israel * The innate entrepreneurial nature of Israelis as an immigrant nation and their unique geo-political context * What degree entrepreneurship can be taught to students, and what innate traits future entrepreneurs bring with them to the Technion * How alumni contribute in the classroom and providing business opportunities to Technion students * The Technion’s successful partnership with Cornell University to establish the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute in New York City and the contribution of JTCI to the city * Faculty’s involvement in the companies that Technion’s students develop, and how the Technion financially encourages faculty’s start-ups * Lavie’s own research on sleep and an individual’s peak creativity and alertness * Eye on trends: Nanotechnology’s role in monitoring health and automatic translations capacity to globalize education Peretz Lavie’s Biography Peretz Lavie is the President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the oldest university in Israel specializing in the sciences, engineering and medicine.  Throughout his six year tenure as president, Lavie has overseen the Technion’s 18 faculties, and lead international initiatives like the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute in New York and the institute for technology at Shantou University. President Lavie has researched, taught, and worked as an administrator at the Technion since he returned to Israel from the United States in 1975 to found the Technion’s sleep laboratory.  He later opened a similar center affiliated with Harvard University, authored several books including The Enchanted World of Sleep and Restless Nights: Understanding Snoring and Sleep Apnea and served as President of the Israeli Society of Sleep Research.  He also has advocated for policy reforms in education, transportation safety, broadcasting and the military where those fields relate to sleep. Peretz Lavie received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Statistics from Tel Aviv University, earned his PhD in Physiological Psychology at the University of Florida, and pursued post-doctoral research at the University of California at San Diego.

Among other topics, Bob discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * What SAIC does and what IT’s role is in the organization * How he can act as an empathetic advisor to his customer organizations as a client of the products themselves * The methods involved in how he empowers the workforce to improve efficiency * The way in which he organizes himself with all the change that has occurred recently, as a new hire at an organization now undergoing a split * How he thinks about balancing the risk of fast-moving innovation with the potential for finding new opportunities with innovative ideas * Eye on the Trends: SaaS, and the security of cloud platforms, the Internet of Things Bob Fecteau’s Biography Bob is the Chief Information Officer for SAIC, a $4.4 billion technology integrator that provides full life-cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. In his role, Bob is responsible for guiding technology investments and delivering operational services in direct support of the business. Prior to joining SAIC, Bob served as the CIO of BAE Systems’ Intelligence and Security sector and as CIO of the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). As an Army officer he served a variety of roles with the intelligence branch and has earned many awards, including the Department of Defense’s Chief Information Officer Award for Outstanding Achievement in Information Management and the National Intelligence Meritorious Citation for support to the Army’s and National Intelligence Community’s Y2K mission. Bob also serves the technical community as an executive board member of CIO Magazine’s CIO Executive Council. He also works as a mentor within the Pathways Program and teaches enterprise architecture and IT leadership at Carnegie Mellon University’s Executive Education Program. Bob received a Bachelor of Science degree from Corpus Christi State University and completed Syracuse University’s masters of information studies in Washington, D.C. He also received a Chief Information Officer certificate from the National Defense University.

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).

Among other topics, Gopichand discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * His role as the within Tata, and his mandate as the first CTO of the organization * The ways in which he has pursued the goal of shifting the organization to become one of the 10 most technologically innovative companies in the world * The structure he has set between members of his team at the group level and on a company-by-company level * Areas of innovation that he has pursued * The extent to which he has focused on the Indian market compared to the global market * His role at General Electric India’s technology center, and how he has leveraged talent processes in India across the global reach of the company * The rise of Indian education and his diverse set of hobbies including film, writing, and music development Gopichand Katragadda’s Biography Dr. Gopichand Katragadda is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Tata Group, a large multinational company, headquartered in Mumbai, India.  Tata Group grosses more than one hundred billion dollars in revenue annually.  As Tata Group’s first Chief Technology Officer, Gopichand is responsible for technology at the group level, managing research & development operations, and creating cross-company synergies from a technology and innovation standpoint. Prioir to joining Tata Group, Gopichand served as the Managing Director of the General Electric Technology Center in India, where he led a technology team of more than 5,000 engineers and scientists.  He also previously served as Vice President of research and development of Karta Technologies and was an adjunct professor at the University of Texas. Gopichand received his masters and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from Iowa State, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology in 2014.

Among other topics, Martha discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Her role and vision for the IT organization at Starwood * The way in which the IT team gets involved in the customer experience * How her experiences as a customer of Starwood colors her experience to developing internal plans * How she divided her time during the first 100 days of coming on-board at Starwood * Some of the early plans Martha had for the organization and how she sees those plans moving forward into the future * IT’s role from an innovation perspective and how they organize around those activities * How her tenure at GE Capital helped her transition to Starwood * Eye on the Trends: Data as an asset, computing miniaturization (mobile, wearables, etc.), and the Internet of Things Martha Poulter’s Biography Martha is currently Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., a position she began in June of 2014. Prior to joining Starwood, Martha spent eighteen years at GE Capital in a range of information technology and e-Business leadership roles. Most recently she served as Vice President, GE and CIO, GE Capital from August 2010 to June 2014 where she was responsible for further integrating the best of GE Capital’s IT applications, infrastructure and resources across all consumer and commercial platforms. From 2008 to 2010 Martha served as CIO for GE Capital, Americas where she was responsible for driving global digitization strategy, organization and delivery of customer value through technology, and from 2007 to 2008 she served as CIO for GE Capital, Capital Solutions. From 1995 to 2007, Martha held various positions for GE, Corporate Financial Services. Prior to joining GE Capital, Martha held various positions with Southern New England Telephone, a telecommunications company. Martha completed her MBA from the University of New Haven and received her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Connecticut.

Among other topics, Serge discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * His role at Canadian National and his technology plans * How he thinks about data integration with the large network he has built amongst customers and vendors * How his organization has thought about the Internet of Things and how to bring that trend to life * How he rose to the role of CIO in a new industry * His past experience at consulting firms and British American Tobacco and methods he has transferred from those roles * How he has attracted and retained talent at Canadian National to stay up-to-date on technology * Eye on the Trends: Predictive Analytics and the Internet of Things Serge Leduc’s Biography Serge is currently the Chief Information Officer of Canadian National Railway.  Serge has gone through a transformation at CN, taking the company from a federated structure, to a more homogeneous one around business engagement, applications management and delivery; infrastructure and telecommunications; and planning and strategy Prior to joining Canadian National, Serge held various senior positions for Canadian and UK-based organizations, including Alliance Forest Products and British American Tobacco.  At British American Tobacco, his responsibilities included implementing SAP and global supply chain management solutions in various countries around the world, and also ran a major enterprise infrastructure program.

Among other topics, Celso discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * His areas of responsibility at Renault/Nissan * Leadership characteristics underneath Celso (decentralized v. centralized) for Nissan and Renault respectively * Best and Vitesse programs at Renault Nissan * Technology changing the way in which consumers are likely to experience driving in their car * The future of autonomous automobiles * How IT and the engineering/research areas work together * Eye on the Trends: 3D modeling, and the internet of things in the manufacturing/production line Celso Giuotoko’s Biography Celso is the Alliance Global VP, Corporate Vice President, and CIO of the global corporate IS/IT function of Renault-Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan.  Among other responsibilities, Celso is responsible for managing Renault and Nissan’s IS divisions worldwide. Prior to joining Nissan, Celso served as vice president of i2 technologies, a supply chain management software and services company, which he joined after leaving Toshiba Corporation’s semi-conducotr division in the US.   Celso began his career as a system analyst at BRADESCO Brazilian bank in Sau Paulo, before eventually joining Andersen consulting (now Accenture) in 1985.  With Andersen, Celso moved to Chicago and eventually Tokyo. In addition to his activities in the business world, from 1986 to 1988, he became Assistant Professor for Information Technology, at the Universidade Estadual de Sao Paulo where he also supervised the Internship Programme. At the University of Sau Paulo in Brazil, Celso attended the Esola Politecnica and the Faculdade de Economia e Administracao.  

Among other topics, Jim discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * An Overview of the position of CIO at GE Capital * The role of IT at GE Capital and the development of a digital strategy * Jim’s view of how technological innovation should be developed and how it can add value to all the business ventures of GE and their customers * The importance of setting up IT as the technology arm of the company trough effective development, training, and recruiting programs * Jim’s approach to problem solving by understanding how and where to leverage technological developments across business units * How IT should treat data as an asset and have it move through an IT value chain * The critical role IT plays in keeping a company like GE Capital ahead of the curve * Eye on the Trends: The Internet of Things and Financial Services Marketplaces Jim Fowler’s Biography Jim is the chief information officer of GE Capital.  In that role, he is responsible for delivering digital global business processes and is an active participant in driving GE’s commercial digital strategy through GE’s Information Management Council. Jim was previously the CIO for GE Power & Water, the CIO for GE Power Generation Services and CSA Automation, the CIO for GE Intelligent Platforms, the CIO of Supply Chain at GE Aviation, and the CTO of Architecture and Design with GE Infrastructure. Prior to GE he held roles with NCR and Accenture. Jim holds a bachelor of science degree in Management Information Systems and Marketing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, as well as an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Among other topics, Chris discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * His role at Kroger * How his team manages to interact with customers and vendors within this industry * Innovation in self-service and customers’ adoption of and interaction with developments in technology * His experience as a board member on Kindred Healthcare, Inc. and Rehabcare Group, Inc., among others * Eye on the Trends: open sourcing of technology to increase productivity and increasing data analytics Christopher Hjelm’s Biography Christopher Hjelm is currently Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer for The Kroger Co. Chris leads the technology strategy, and is responsible for all aspects of engineering, site architecture, operations, and services.  Before joining Kroger in 2005, Chris was Chief Information Officer at Cendant’s Travel Distribution Services and Senior VP for Technology at eBay. Chris has more than 20 years of technology leadership experience at high-growth Internet companies as well as Fortune 500 firms, having served at Orbitz, Cendant Corp., eBay, and Federal Express.  He has been a Director of Rehabcare Group Inc. since July 2007 and a Director of Kindred Healthcare Inc. since June 2011. He serves as a Member of CIO Advisory Board of newScale LLC, which designs, manufactures and distributes networking equipments, and as a Member of Advisory Board at Channel Velocity, Inc. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from the Colorado State University and an Honorary PhD in Computer Science from Colorado Technical University.

Among other topics, Emerson discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Emerson’s entrepreneurial spirit and his founding of MuggleNet at a very young age * His educational background, the rationale behind his early home-schooling, and his attendance at college despite the archetype of young entrepreneurs skipping higher education * Common characteristics of successful people and positive influences to Emerson * The science of virality; how Emerson became enamored with the idea of media influence, how Spartz media utilizes it today for generation of its content, and whether viral media represents a change in the future of media consumption * How businesses should be viewing virality * His take on future parenting responsibilities Emerson Spartz’s Biography Emerson is the CEO of Chicago-based Spartz Media Inc., one of the fastest growing digital media publishers with 18 websites, including GivesMeHope, OMGFacts, and Dose. Emerson gained fame at the age of 12, when he founded MuggleNet, which was at one time the world’s largest Harry Potter website.  MuggleNet eventually attracted 50 million page views per month, and spawned the most listened to podcast in the world. Along the way, Emerson met author JK Rowling as a representative of the Harry Potter fandom.  Emerson has written a number of books related to the various sites that he has created, as well. Emerson graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in management from the Mendoza College of Business.

Among other topics, Stephanie discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Roles and Responsibilities within the World Bank Group * The challenges of collaboration within a very diverse set of employees * The path to IT leadership without having traditional education in the area * Cloud and the way in which security at the World Bank addresses those technology trends * What she’s gained by being at “board-level” within the bank and advising with Box.Org * Eye on the Trends: Data, structured, etc. the digitization of existing data Stephanie von Friedeburg’s Biography Stephanie is the CIO and VP for Information Technology Solutions at the World Bank Group, a role she has held since 2012.  Among other responsibilities, Stephanie is in charge of driving IT strategy at the World Bank Group.  She’ll speak about the transformation she has led in our interview. Stephanie began her career at the World Bank in 1992, serving in a variety of roles, including CIO for the International Finance Corporation, Manager for IFC General Manufacturing Investments in Russia and the former Soviet republics, and Manager for IFC’s Global Telecommunications Portfolio, amongst other roles. Stephanie is also on the advisory board of Box.org, the non-profit directed arm of Box.com, an online service that provides files sharing, collaborating, and other tools for files uploaded to its servers.  She also serves as a leader of the International Finance Institution Women in IT organization, which advocates for the advancement of women in IT, as well as sitting on the board of the Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  She received her Master of Arts from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, also at the University of Pennsylvania.