Episode #5: Digital Transformation
Mike Grandinetti will kick-off this episode leading panel #1 about how the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation. George Westerman will then lead panel #2 about building a digital-ready culture. Finally, Allan Tate and Guy Snodgrass will close the Digital Learning Series talking about leadership in times of crisis.
Speakers:
Stephen Franchetti, Vice President, IT & Business Technology, Slack (@SlackHQ)
Mike Grandinetti, Mentor, Instructor and Program Development Fellow, University of CA at Berkeley Sutardja Center of Technology & Entrepreneurship (@mikegrand1)
Shamim Mohammad, Senior Vice President, Chief Information and Technology Officer, Carmax (@shamimcio)
Zachary Smith, Managing Director, Packet, an Equinix Company (@zsmithnyc)
Guy Snodgrass SM '00, Chief Executive Officer, Defense Analytics (@GuySnodgrass)
Cynthia Stoddard, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Adobe (@stoddardCA)
Zeeshan Tariq, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Zimmer Biomet
Allan Tate, SM ‘86, Executive Chair, MIT Sloan CIO Symposium (@AllanRTate)
Dr. George Westerman, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management (@gwesterman)
Graham Wilkinson, Executive Vice President, Product Strategy & Innovation, Kinesso (@WilkiGraham)
Panel #1: Digital Transformation on the Fast Track
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed our daily lives. Remote work has become a necessity, and many are not going back to the office. Telemedicine has become critical for protecting patients and health-care workers while providing much needed care. Schools have been forced to shift to virtual learning options as campuses remain closed. Events around the world, including the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, have had to transform to a virtual format. How can CIOs cope when digital transformation becomes critical to survival?
(Mike Grandinetti, moderator, with Stephen Franchetti, Zachary Smith, Graham Wilkinson and Zeeshan Tariq)
Panel #2: Building Digital Ready Culture in Traditional Organizations
In the search for a faster and more innovative culture, leaders can be tempted to copy digital-born companies such as Amazon and Google and Uber. But great leaders resist the temptation, since those cultures can require policies that traditional companies can’t adopt and can generate consequences they don’t want to risk. Rather than try and fail to replicate the cultures of digital startups, leaders can build a digital-ready culture that enhances speed and innovation while building on the unique characteristics of traditional companies. In this session, we’ll discuss the three steps to creating a digital-ready culture, and how leaders have built those elements in their firms.
(George Westerman, moderator, with Shamin Mohammad and Cynthia Stoddard)
Fireside Chat: Leadership in Times of Crisis
CIOs don’t typically get leadership training from the cockpit of a fighter jet, but these are not normal times. Those that find opportunities to positively impact their community while staring down a pandemic, a faltering economy, and a rising tide of social unrest will distinguish themselves. With no manual to guide them and no time to prepare, these leaders need to see the bigger picture, adapt to the situation, and take calculated risks to address the rapidly changing needs of customers and employees. Months spent at sea in close quarters onboard an aircraft carrier, flying fighter jets while rapidly analyzing and acting on large amounts of data, and the need to handle rapidly changing circumstances all seem more real in today’s uncertain environment. In this fireside chat, we’ll find out what CIOs can learn from the U.S. Navy’s Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN).
(Allan R. Tate with Guy Snodgrass)
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