Episode description

On the 20th episode of Enterprise Software Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with David Smoley. David has had a storied career, leading technology teams at several large and defining companies, including General Electric, Flex, and AstraZeneca. Most recently, he led an engineering team as a VP at Apple. Today, David shares anecdotes about being an early advocate for innovation, best practices for collaborating with startups, and his experiences with hands-on digital transformation.

Quick hits from David:

On digital transformation: “Digital transformation depends on your starting point. What would be a radical digital transformation for one company might be meaningless to another company. I think of digital transformation as being very contextual around a particular situation or problem that you're trying to solve."

On enterprise IT executives’ relationships with startups: “It’s this great quid pro quo where you're looking for cool technology and smart people who can help you in your role as a tech leader and [startups] are looking for smart tech leaders who are going to help them develop great products and great companies.”

On the ethos of being a technologist: “One of the things you have to love if you're a technologist is living on that edge of what's possible and what are the risks, and getting people to see your side of what the possibilities are.”

Recent Book Recommendation: World Class IT by Peter High

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Enterprise Software Innovators is a show where top tech executives share how they innovate at scale. Each episode covers unique insights and stories that will help you succeed as a technology leader. Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at https://www.enterprisesoftware.blog/.

Enterprise Software Innovators is produced by Luke Reiser and Josh Meer.