Metis Strategy

Among other topics, Paula discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Paula’s decision to move to Intel after 20 years at Dow Chemical * IT’s role in the transformation and growth of Intel’s portfolio of products and services * How IT’s partnerships with businesses within Intel help shape the products and solutions Intel brings to the market * The Intel IT Annual Performance Report * Implementing predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to drive efficiency, effectiveness, and value * Paula’s career path and the diverse roles that she has held   Paula Tolliver is Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Intel Corporation, a $59 billion technology company. Since joining Intel in 2016, Paula has accelerated the company’s vision of making things that are smart, connected, and work best with Intel technology. Prior to joining Intel, Paula held a diverse set of roles at Dow Chemical. During her 20 year tenure with the company, her positions included Global Vice President of Purchasing, Corporate Vice President of Business Services, and Chief Information Officer. Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in business information systems and computer science from Ohio University. She has completed the Babson College Executive Education Program.

Among other topics, Neal discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Neal’s transformation of the Express Script’s IT department * Technology driven health care * Express Script’s apprenticeship to hire program * The steps Neal takes to prepare for new roles * The value Neal has derived from his Ph.D. in Computer Science * Fostering personal growth while adding value at a new position: change scale, function, or domain * Eye on the trends: high utility wearables   Neal Sample is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Express Scripts, a $100 billion pharmacy benefit management company. Since joining the organization in early 2016, Neal has focused on innovative solutions, process improvements, and increasing productivity. Prior to joining Express Scripts, Neal held several executive level positions with American Express’s Enterprise Growth unit including President, CIO, and Chief Marketing Technologist. Neal has also held technology leadership roles at eBay and Yahoo. Neal earned a B.A. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Wyoming. He also holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Among other topics, Yoshua discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Supervised verses unsupervised deep learning * The heart of deep learning: disentangled representations * The genesis and mission of Element AI * Exploratory AI research verses applied AI research * The development of the Montreal Institute of Learning Algorithms (MILA) * The significance Yoshua places on supportive and collaborative cultures * The evolution of AI in Montreal * Yoshua’s concerns bout lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs)   Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer of deep learning, is a Full Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at the University of Montreal. Yoshua is also the Director of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) and a Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), where he co-directs its program on deep learning. Yoshua serves as an adviser to a number of enterprises and is a co-founder of Element AI, a startup that helps organizations embrace AI. Yoshua is a co-author of the book “Deep Learning” and more than 300 other publications. He currently serves as action editor for the Journal of Machine Learning Research, as an associate editor for the Neural Computation journal, and as an editor for the journal Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning. Yoshua earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a master’s degree in Computer Science, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science, all from McGill University.

Among other topics, Andrew discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The genesis of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science * The history of artificial intelligence * Aspects of human intelligence that have been automated to date * The impact of automation on jobs * Automated personal assistants as the predictor for the future eminent AI company * CMU’s strategies for retaining faculty talent * The two distinct safety concerns of AI * The supportive relationship between Pittsburgh’s government, universities, and tech and manufacturing companies   Andrew W. Moore has served as the Dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science since 2014. He was a professor of computer science and robotics at CMU before taking a leave of absence, in 2006, to become founding director of Google’s Pittsburgh engineering office. Andrew received an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a PhD in Computer Science from Cambridge University. Andrew is a fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence.

Among other topics, Greg discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The role of technology in Fifth Third’s business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) relationships * Fifth Third’s multi-pronged technology division * Firth Third’s three-phrased strategy for developing and delivering new technologies * Why CIOs need to know each business within the enterprise * Greg’s career path from CIO to CEO   Greg is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Third Bank, a diversified financial services company with $142 billion in assets. Greg joined Fifth Third in 2003 as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. By 2006 he was offered the Chief Operating Officer role, and became President in 2012. Greg has served as President and CEO since 2015. Prior to joining Fifth Third, Greg was the CIO of Emerson Electric, and held several information technology and leadership positions at General Electric. Greg earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree in business administration from Central Michigan University. Greg is a member of Fifth Third Bank’s Board of Directors and of the Financial Services Roundtable Advisory Board, the leading advocacy organization for America’s financial services industry.

Among other topics, Bill discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Bill’s 13-year career path at Cerner * The critical skills needed for IT leaders * How previously being a part of a revenue-enhancing division of Cerner shaped how Bill runs IT * Bill’s purview as CIO: security, data centers, corporate IT, infrastructure, IT finance and governance * Advice for scaling quickly: robust processes, internal relationships, and external relationships * Eye on the trends: public cloud, partnering analytics with artificial intelligence, gamification   Bill Graff is the Chief Information Officer of Cerner, a $4.8 billion health care information technology solutions company. He has global responsibility for the organization’s physical and logical security programs and corporate IT. Bill’s team also supports remote hosting and cloud datacenter operations in seven countries. Bill joined Cerner in 2005 as a senior manager of Infrastructure Operations. Before becoming CIO in 2016, Bill held a variety of executive positions within the enterprise. Prior to joining Cerner, Bill spent 17 years in various IT roles spanning retail, nuclear, and fossil power generation industries. Bill has been recognized by Computerworld as a Premier 100 IT Leader. He serves on the board of advisors for Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Intel Corporation. Bill graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture & Economics.

Among other topics, Sheila discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Symantec’s Integrated Cyber Defense Platform * Using the integration of acquisitions as an opportunity to transform and simplify * End-to-end reference architecture: engineering to frictionless delivery * Building an IT workforce: balancing core competencies, augmenting skills, and outsourcing * Staying agile with your team to meet shifting priorities and opportunities * The IT department as Symantec’s CustomerONE * Women in technology * The expanding and strengthening role of IT in organizations * Broadening your definition of innovation to spur innovation   Sheila Jordan is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Symantec, $4 billion security and information management software company. She is responsible for driving Symantec’s IT strategy and operations. Shelia also oversees Symantec’s Global Security Office. Prior to Symantec, Sheila was the Senior Vice President of Communication and Collaboration IT at Cisco Systems. She also worked at Walt Disney World as the Senior Vice President of Destination Disney. Sheila serves on the Board of Directors of FactSet, a $1.2 billion revenue global company that delivers insight and information to investment professionals. Sheila holds a BA in accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Among other topics, Taso discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Toptal’s mission * Finding, screening, and monitoring talent * Toptal’s two engagement models: Talent Model and Toptal Projects * Taso’s entrepreneurial journey * Advantages Toptal has gained by developing their own CRM, ERP, BPM systems * Future talent verticals   Taso Du Val is the CEO and co-founder of Toptal, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed company that connects innovative companies with engineering, design, and finance talent. Taso is also a founding member and serves as an advisor for Artsy, an online database of art, architecture, and design images. Prior to co-founding Toptal and Artsy, Taso was a lead engineer at photo-sharing startup Fotolog and a lead engineer at the social media company Slide. Taso was selected for the Forbes 30 under 30 as a leader in Enterprise Technology, in 2015.

This is the first episode of our “What is?” series, where we tackle topics of rising importance in technology and business, more generally speaking. We will tackle, “What is artificial intelligence?,” “What is Blockchain?,” “What is robotics?,” “What is 3d printing?,” and the like. Today, my question is: “What are microservices?” To answer that question, I will speak with a prominent venture capitalist who is investing in this space, and a leading founder/CEO of a business that focuses on microservices. Matt Miller, Partner at Sequoia Among other topics, Matt discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The three requirements for microservices to take off: containers, API, cloud infrastructure * Advantages of microservices: agility, efficiency, resiliency, and revenue * Transferring from legacy technology to microservices * Advice for developing a microservices ecosystem * Vendor suggestions to assist with migration to container * How microservices allows you to move from perimeter protection to protecting core individual pieces * Strategies for staying ahead of the changing tech landscape * Eye on the trends: monitoring for microservices   Matt is a partner at Sequoia focused on growth stage investments in technology companies. An avid nerd from an early age, Matt started building computers and writing code at 12 years old in his mother’s kitchen. He has worked as an entrepreneur, an advisor and now an investor. At Sequoia, Matt has worked closely with Barracuda Networks, Carbon Black, Confluent, Docker, Hirevue, Nimble Storage, Okta, Simplisafe and SkyHigh Networks. Prior to Sequoia, Matt worked at Goldman Sachs and graduated from Brigham Young University.  In his spare time, Matt is wrangling two young kids with his wife and looking for people with whom he can practice his Swedish. Jay Kreps, Co-Founder & CEO of Confluent Among other topics, Jay discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The origin of Apache Kafka at LinkedIn and its evolution to open source * Insight into why the precursor to microservices, service oriented architecture, never achieved large scale deployment * The genesis of Confluent * Why implementing microservices and Confluent’s products is similar for established companies and start ups * Suggested strategy and factors necessary for implementing microservices * The relationship between open source and ecosystems of partners * Factors that influence the success of Apache Kafka and the Confluent platform * Confluence’s Exactly Once Delivery/Semantics   Jay Kreps is the co-founder and CEO of Confluent, the company behind the popular Apache Kafka streaming platform. Prior to founding Confluent, he was the lead architect for data infrastructure at LinkedIn. He is among the original authors of several open source projects including Project Voldemort (a key-value store), Apache Kafka (a distributed streaming platform) and Apache Samza (a stream processing system).

Among other topics, Alan discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The evolution of business process management to digital process automation * Pegasystem’s Model-Driven platform * The value of “cloud choice” for customers * Pegasystems’ customer- driven acquisition strategy * The rational for Pegasystem’s decision to not pursue venture capital * Alan’s book: Build for Change: Revolutionizing Customer Engagement through Continuous Digital Innovation * How Alan’s passion for chess influenced his career path   Alan is the founder and CEO of Pegasystems, a $750 million provider of strategic applications. Since founding the company in 1983, Alan has grown the organization to more than 4,000 employees, in 30 global offices. Alan is also the author of “Build for Change, Revolutionizing Customer Engagement through Continuous Digital Innovation.” The book describes a new generation of customers that have the unprecedented power to make or break brands and discusses the changes businesses must embrace to succeed in today’s digital world. Alan and his wife Pam established the Trefler Foundation, in 1996. The Foundation’s mission is to improve opportunities for young people from urban neighborhoods by helping them develop the skills, knowledge, and values they need to lead productive lives. Alan holds a degree in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

Among other topics, Julia discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Adobe’s transition to a software as a service company * Evolving Adobe’s IT strategy and culture using the characteristics of cloud technology * Applying customer experience principles to improve the employee experience * Tailoring tools to the needs of “personas,” or type of work an individual does * Evolving to meet the needs of millennial employees’ expectations * Using responsive design principles to create a consistent and seamless employee experience across surfaces (phones, tablets, computers) * Lab 82: Adobe’s collaborative workspace * Adobe’s work with Girls Who Code * Cynthia’s advice for women interested in a career in technology * Eye on the trends: big data, analytics, and AI   Cynthia Stoddard is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Adobe Systems Incorporated, a $6 billion software company. Cynthia spearheads Adobe’s global strategy for delivering services that form the mission-critical backbone of the company. Cynthia has held information technology and technical leadership positions in diverse industries including supply chain, retail, and technology development. Before joining Adobe, Cynthia was the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President at NetApp, a data storage and management company. In 2016, Silicon Valley Business Journal named Cynthia a Women of Influence. She is also a recipient of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders Award. Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Western New England University and an MBA from Marylhurst University.

Among other topics, Eash discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * JetBlue’s Mission: “to bring humanity back to air travel” * JetBlue’s biometrics boarding process * The two measures JetBlue uses to measure the success of their culture * Improving customer experience by merging technology and culture * JetBlue Technology Ventures: a venture capital subsidiary of JetBlue * JetBlue’s Innovation Lab * Eash’s board experience with Champ CargoSystems and SITA * Bringing multiple disciplines together to drive success * Eye on the trends: near field communication technologies Eash is Executive Vice President and Chief Digital & Technology Officer of JetBlue Airways, a $6 billion US-based airline. Eash is also the Chair of JetBlue Technology Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of JetBlue Airways. Prior to joining JetBlue, Eash served as Senior Vice President of Global Supply Chain and as Chief Information Officer at Pall Corporation. He held leadership positions at McKesson-PSS World Medical and i2 Technologies, as well. Eash serves as the board director of SITA, a global information technology company that provides services to the air transport industry. He is also on the board of Champ CargoSystems, which delivers IT solutions and distribution services to the air cargo industry. Eash holds a Master of Science in Transportation Management from the State University of New York, and a bachelor’s degree in Science & Engineering from MK University, in India. .

Among other topics, Jeff discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The symbiotic relationship between practitioners, the venture community, and the founding community * Sequoia’s CIO activities and events * Jeff’s insights into the importance of security, artificial intelligence, and the public cloud to CIOs * How Sequoia helps clients cut through the noise to see what is real * Strategies for the successful development and implementation of new technology * Two things enterprise technology can learn from consumer technology * Eye on the trends: cloud security, focus on talent   Jeff Pashalides is the Head of Corporate at Sequoia Capital, a global venture capital firm. Jeff joined Sequoia in 2014 to establish, build, and lead Sequoia’s corporate practice. His team works closely with founders, investors, and C-level executives on a broad range of strategic projects. Before joining Sequoia, Jeff led finance and corporate development at TrueCar and led Blackstone’s software as a service advisory practice. Jeff has a computer science degree from Brown University.

Among other topics, Stuart discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * The value of combining product and technology under one executive * The advantages of having multiple diverse roles in one organization for both the individual and the organization * Adapting in an evolving competitive landscape * Strategies for recruiting millenials and technologists * The development of Lifion, ADP’s innovation lab * Using hackathons to improve how services are developed and delivered * ADP Ventures: an internal team that builds and tests new product offerings   Stuart Sackman is the Corporate Vice President of Global Product and Technology for ADP, a $12 billion human capital management company. Stuart oversees both client-facing product development and internal technology operations. During Stuart’s 25-year tenure at ADP, he has held positions with broad-ranging responsibilities across several ADP business units. He led product and marketing initiatives, developed strategy for ADP’s international expansion efforts, and steered eBusinness solutions. Most recently, Stuart was the Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Multinational Corporations Services. Stuart holds a bachelor of arts in Computer Science from Brandeis University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Among other topics, Ken discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: * Staying agile and innovative in a dynamic field * The three elements of Fortinet’s culture: openness, teamwork and innovation * Fortinet’s Five Stages of Security * Forming an ecosystem of external partnerships to mitigate risk for customers * The significant impact Stanford’s entrepreneurial culture and industry connections had on Ken’s career path * Ken’s complimentary relationship with his brother and collaborator, Michael Xie * Attributes of an effective entrepreneur   Ken Xie is the Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Fortinet, a cyber security solutions firm. Ken founded Fortinet in 2000 with the goal of making an impactful change in the network security space. Ken has grown the company to nearly 5000 team members and $1.3 billion in revenue. Ken started his first network security company, SIS, in 1993, while studying at Stanford University. In 1996, he founded NetScreen, which developed network security and access products for enterprises and carriers. NetScreen was acquired by Jupiter Networks for $4 billion, in 2004. Ken earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Stanford University.