Democratizing innovation means that experts create tools that allow new industries to utilize technology to make their businesses stronger and more efficient. This leads to happy customers. Happy customers lead to happy employees that feel a sense of purpose and belonging at work. Creating teams that balance accountability and purpose is Eric Rempel’s vision of success. Eric is the Chief Innovation Officer at Redwood Logistics. He joined Patrick and Shelli on this week’s episode of Innovation an...
Apr 29, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Jennifer Van Camp has worked in research for major pharmaceutical companies for more than 20 years. In her experience, medical research produces extensive data but doesn’t always have processes by which to leverage this information. When she had the opportunity to go on sabbatical, she thought about this problem and came up with an entrepreneurial solution. This week, Jennifer joined Patrick and Shelli to talk about the idea of digital exhaust in medical research and what she and her team are do...
Apr 01, 2021•36 min•Ep. 39
Sometimes leadership isn’t about being a visionary. Sometimes leadership is about assembling a team of experts and breaking down the barriers to their success. This is the belief of John Kett, CEO and President of IAA. John joined Patrick on this week’s episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise for a discussion about the future of the car sales industry, John’s philosophy of leadership, and why he believes reading about historical and political figures can help you become a better leader....
Mar 18, 2021•33 min•Ep. 38
Roger Liew has a track record for leading cutting-edge teams. As the fifth employee of Orbitz, Roger led the team that created the original infrastructure powering orbitz.com. In the years since, he has helped lead many companies and has spent a lot of time leading the next generation of startups as a mentor and board member. On today’s episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Roger talked about what it means to add value to a board, why a first-time board member has a hard time switchi...
Mar 04, 2021•45 min•Ep. 37
Baseball changed forever once data and statistics were added to the toolkit. Ari Kaplan, Director of Strategy at DataRobot and one of the people responsible for revolutionizing sports analytics, joined Patrick and Shelli on today’s episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise. Ari took time to explain the role of AI in analytics, the importance of citizen data scientists, and how data can improve products and efficiency across industries. Take a listen to the episode for more on the up-and-c...
Feb 18, 2021•36 min•Ep. 36
To be effective, a product manager in the SaaS space must be a visionary with an engineering degree. It takes deep knowledge of technical processes and a desire to help customers achieve the outcome they want. Dustin Kirkland, Chief Product Officer at Apex, has been in the product space for more than 20 years. Dustin joined Patrick and Shelli for a discussion on what it takes to develop a product manager mindset, why he wishes he would have stuck with controversial ideas early in his career, and...
Feb 04, 2021•35 min•Ep. 35
Nicolas Chaillan is the first ever Chief Software Officer for the United States’ government at his post with the US Air Force. As an agency tasked with both innovation and national security, the Air Force has its work cut out for it. On this week’s edition of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Nicolas shares his thoughts on why employers should give paid time for continuous learning to remain competitive. He explains why we need to think beyond college degrees and offer alternative pathways ...
Jan 21, 2021•36 min•Ep. 34
To innovate, a company doesn’t necessarily have to rush out and invent a new product. Innovation starts when all stakeholders are working as a cohesive unit and have identified a common mission. Matt Kelly , a partner and Business Designer at Do Tank, believes that to be successful, a company needs to take some time to do some business modeling that allows them to increase efficiency and ensure they are targeting the right customer demographics. Matt spoke with Patrick and Shelli about business ...
Jan 07, 2021•32 min•Ep. 33
To increase diversity in technology, step one is acknowledging that there is a problem. Step two is to put in greater effort to create new pipelines of applicants. Thulasi Kethini, CTO of Shiftgig, believes that there are highly qualified women ready to take on leadership in the tech space but most tech companies don’t take the time to go to the places where these women can be found. On this week’s edition of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Patrick and Shelli talk to Thulasi about how com...
Dec 17, 2020•38 min•Ep. 32
Arrive Logistics is one of the fastest-growing freight brokerages. Logistics, perhaps more so than many other industries, is seeing a big shift toward technology beyond traditional IT. Michael Senftleber , CTO at Arrive Logistics, is one of the people leading this charge. Unlike many professionals in the logistics industry, Michael came from a product background. On this week’s edition of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Michael discussed why product driven leadership is so beneficial to h...
Dec 03, 2020•33 min•Ep. 31
Over the course of the last 48 months, the H-1B visa program has been greatly diminished, largely by executive order. This program allows foreign students who study in the United States a path to a green card. Dick Burke is the CEO of Envoy Global, a tech leader specializing in immigration services. He is our guest this week on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise. Dick believes that America needs to change its perception on immigration if we are going to continue attracting top talent. To avoi...
Nov 19, 2020•35 min•Ep. 30
Changing the culture of an organization is not something that happens overnight. Collaborative design and cross-functional teams can take years to get right. So how do you make the changes necessary to get everyone on the same page? According to Scott Prugh , Chief Architect and SVP of Software Engineering at CSG, using mistakes and miscommunications as a learning tool is key. Today on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Scott discusses how to create software-first companies, why incident rep...
Oct 15, 2020•42 min•Ep. 29
The law is as old as civilization. But the legal industry has been very slow to adapt to digitalization. Relativity, a SaaS eDiscovery platform, is looking to change that. Andrew Watts is the CIO of Relativity and joined Patrick and Shelli this week for a discussion on the digitization of law documents and tools. Andrew talked about how the industry is adapting, why it’s so important for lawyers and firms to get on the cloud, and what Relativity is doing to be employee focused in an age where ev...
Sep 24, 2020•47 min•Ep. 28
Burnout can cripple any organization and for many technology firms, it’s the standard by which business is conducted. Dr. Mik Kersten believes that the key to happy software engineers (and the executives that manage them) is to create flow using a framework. Mik joins Patrick and Shelli for a discussion on flow diagnostics, how teams respond to being measured, and why it’s important to understand people’s energies. Listen for his thoughts on flow framework and pick up his book Project to Product...
Sep 10, 2020•37 min•Ep. 27
Nag Vaidyanathan is the EVP and CTO for OneMain Financial. Nag’s organization is over a century old, but when the pandemic hit, the company had to accelerate the pace of its digital offerings. One challenge that Nag has been seeing good results with is creating a user experience that mirrors in-person branch services. This week on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Patrick and Shelli talk to Nag about the rapid pace of digitization at OneMain Financial as well as Nag’s experience working in ...
Aug 27, 2020•32 min•Ep. 26
When it comes to attracting talent, Thomas South believes it’s not necessarily about being specialized or competing based on benefits packages alone. Rather, he believes that creating a mission-driven culture is key to recruiting employees that will thrive in your organization. As EVP of Northern Trust, Thomas oversees teams of wealth managers with extensive knowledge of the financial industry. While technology is integral to the company’s path forward, Thomas has found that human touch is neede...
Aug 13, 2020•37 min•Ep. 25
Scott Kitun is a rock star in the Chicago startup and investment world. His company, Technori, is Chicago’s largest media platform for entrepreneurs and has seen billions invested in its first decade. He is our guest this week on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise and joins Shelli and Patrick to talk about the current state of Chicago’s investment landscape. Listen as Scott shares his thoughts on team building, why money and equity aren’t necessarily good motivators, and why you shouldn’t hir...
Jul 30, 2020•39 min•Ep. 24
For a new company, success can seem so difficult to attain. But there is a pattern to success that can help you navigate the growing pains of a fledgling business. Les McKeown is the bestselling author of Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track - and Keeping It There, and has started more than 40 businesses in his own right. Les joined Patrick and Shelli to discuss the lifecycle of success. He outlines the stages of growth, the stages of decline, and offers advice on w...
Jul 16, 2020•40 min•Ep. 23
The education industry has long been ruled by gatekeepers which have prevented any meaningful innovation in the digital space. Jason Dole, CTO of World Book, wants to change this. Jason has spent his career working in the startup space and it’s that spirit of innovation that he believes will help drive meaningful change at such an established brand. He joined Patrick for a discussion that touched upon points such as putting people on teams based on mindset and influencing people in key positions...
Jul 02, 2020•41 min•Ep. 22
When it comes to the logistics of delivering goods across the globe, there are hundreds of touchpoints. FourKites is a supply chain management platform enhanced by machine learning that aims to make this process easier. Vivek Vaid is FourKites’ Chief Technology Officer and our guest today on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise. Vivek talked to Patrick and Shelli about how when it comes to technology versus product development, his approach is to do the work that is in service to customers. He ...
Jun 11, 2020•42 min•Ep. 21
Let’s say it’s almost lunchtime and suddenly you receive a text from your favorite local restaurant with a coupon. You read the text and think, “That does sound pretty good.” You head there for lunch, show your coupon, and get your discount. In a nutshell, this is what Vibes, a platform that helps marketers drive experiences and meaningful customer connections, is all about. Today, Pat and Shelli spoke to Vibes’ CTO Brian Garofola about the underutilized power of mobile when it comes to driving ...
May 28, 2020•42 min•Ep. 20
Ann Madea has spent her career managing and motivating her teams as a CIO of global firms. She has also dedicated herself to the advancement of women and girls in the fields of STEM. She joined us on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise to discuss how she builds trust to ensure all members of her team feel comfortable speaking up and how to successfully stay the course when managing large-scale projects. As a high-profile woman in business, especially in the tech sector, Patrick and Shelli also...
May 14, 2020•47 min•Ep. 19
Risk management has never been viewed as sexy. It’s a necessary component of every organization, but not necessarily something that CEOs are excited to work on. Matt Kunkel of LogicGate has a novel approach however: make risk a revenue driver. Matt joined Patrick on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise to talk shop about risk and how privacy issues have made it more interesting and necessary than ever. Matt also discusses why it’s important to have clear company values and how to get everyone f...
Apr 30, 2020•37 min•Ep. 18
Over the last few decades, as things have increasingly gone digital, we’ve lost the human interaction behind satisfying sales experiences. Matt Coughlin of XSELL Technologies is passionate about the science of sales. After working with Disney and other big brands, he realized that customers were hungry for digital intimacy. This week on Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Matt is talking to Pat about how brands can bridge the divide between offering an array of products and personalization. H...
Apr 16, 2020•45 min•Ep. 17
According to Ryan Jeffery, Founder and Co-CEO of Ignite , the difference between a leader and a manager is that a leader doesn’t need a title. When people switch jobs due to dissatisfaction, most of the time it’s not about the work itself but conflict with the manager. But when you create a culture that is inclusive and inherently motivational, you hit that magic spot of work satisfaction. Ryan joined Pat and Shelli to talk about the concept of discretionary effort and action and what they say a...
Mar 26, 2020•39 min•Ep. 16
Many believe that to succeed in business, you must be a pessimist and always anticipate the worst. But according to Kristi Zuhlke , the CEO of Knowledgehound, grit and being optimistic are not mutually exclusive concepts. Kristi joins Shelli and Pat and gives a window into the life of a serial entrepreneur. She explains why entrepreneurs are passionate about solving problems, how she stays confident in her ability to solve problems, why optimism is underrated in business, and how she thoughtfull...
Mar 19, 2020•49 min•Ep. 15
After being the only woman in the room for years at her corporate job, a string of tragedies made Alison Vorsatz reconsider her purpose. This led her on a transformational journey to Africa and ended with her finding a job at Fairygodboss where she gets to realize her dream of empowering women. Alison joins Pat and Shelli to talk about her journey and shares insights on what it means to work on your personal brand and how that brand can open career connections. [00:25] - This week: Alison Vorsat...
Mar 12, 2020•46 min•Ep. 14
The seeds of innovation cannot germinate in a culture in which people feel they need to ask permission. The ability to fail — and share that failure — is one of the most important tenets of any company that has a chance to improve according to today’s guest, Gene Kim. Gene has been studying high-performing technology companies since 1999 and has authored several books on the topic. On this week’s episode of Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Gene discusses the five central prerequisites of c...
Feb 26, 2020•43 min•Ep. 13
In a corporate environment, a leader’s main task is to keep their team running efficiently and productively. However, in the startup world, a leader needs to jump in and help out at every level. It was this kind of environment and mindset that best informed the leadership style of our guest today, David Hoag . David is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for OCC , the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. His time working at a startup taught him lessons th...
Jan 29, 2020•45 min•Ep. 12
The problem of trying to work on the next big thing in software without bankrupting the company on research and development can be a tricky balancing act. To successfully manage such operations, leaders need to think tactically. Reza Rooholamini is the Vice President of Enterprise Architecture and Technology at CCC Information Services Inc . One way that CCC has managed this issue is by creating an innovation lab that is like its own startup within a company. On this week’s episode of Innovation...
Jan 08, 2020•39 min•Ep. 11
