Mike Giresi, CIO of Royal Caribbean

Summary: Among other topics, Mike discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:<br> <br> * Digital Transformation journey at Royal Caribbean<br> * Importance of Executive sponsorship for IT<br> * Role of CIO to as as interconnector between Enterprise strategy and IT implementation<br> * Value of technology from a customer point of view<br> * Benefits of personalized customer experience through Digital capabilities<br> * The needs of Data management and analytics<br> * Implications of shadow IT<br> * Top technology trends for IT<br> * Relevance of cross functional teams to help push innovation within IT forward<br> <br> Mike Giresi’s Biography<br> Mike is the Chief Information Officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises, an $8.5 billion revenue, award-winning global cruise vacation provider that operates diverse itineraries around the world to destinations in all seven continents. As CIO, Mike collaborates with the Royal Caribbean business functions to proactively identify and understand business and operational issues, and to solve those issues through technology solutions. Prior to his time at Royal Caribbean, Mike served as CIO of Tory Burch, Direct Brands, Godiva Chocolatier, and served as the Director of IT at Campbell Soup Company.<br> Mike received Bachelor’s degrees in English, Chemistry, Economics, Computers, and Accounting from Seton Hall University and an Executive MBA from Saint Joseph’s University.<br> I recently caught up with Mike by phone in his office in Miami, Florida and our conversation covered World Class IT Principle Two, Infrastructure, as we discussed how data accumulation and management are keys to unlocking a personalized customer experience; Principle Four, IT and Business Partnerships, as we discussed the importance of alignment between the business and IT around customer needs and the importance of sponsorship by the executive management team to help drive IT innovations forward, along with a variety of other topics.<br>