Having data and artificial intelligence by themselves is not the answer to business success. Instead, it is about being able to use AI insights to make the correct decisions. Richard Potter, CEO of Peak, describes a customized yet systematic process where AI can create predictive models to inform supply chain determinations.  Tune in to learn:What is “decision intelligence”? (00:46)In what areas can decision intelligence be applied? (02:30)How is Peak different from its competitors? (05:27)How does Peak help companies receive results quickly? (09:22)How can machine learning use data to help make forecasts? (15:27)How much data is needed to drive AI predictions? (19:55)Is AI impacting unifying tastes across cultures? (25:29)Mentions:IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

So many tech companies take a slash and burn approach in order to get their product to market as quickly as possible. Dan Sturman, CTO at Roblox, shares why Roblox takes a much more deliberate approach concerning its platform that is the foundation for many different worlds.Tune in to learn:How did Roblox start out as a world-builder? (02:19)Why does Roblox use physics as a creative baseline? (04:59)Why is Roblox building its own cloud? (10:16)How can Roblox apply to education? (15:11)What’s the future of Roblox and the market? (20:05)How does Roblox recruit innovatively? (26:46)How does Roblox deal with security, privacy, and protecting users? (30:33)Mentions:RobloxRoblox’s Corporate SiteIT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform. If you love the thought leadership on this podcast, Salesforce has even more meaty IT thoughts to chew on. Take your company to the next level with in-depth research and trends right in your inbox. Subscribe to a newsletter tailored to your role at Salesforce.com/newsletter.Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

AI and machine learning are part of the solution in many cybersecurity products. The issue is that machine learning tends to take a lot of time. Cyber threats are moving quickly so computers need to learn fast to stop them. Chuck Everette, the Director of Cybersecurity Advocacy at Deep Instinct, breaks down the difference between machine learning and deep learning. Main TakeawaysDeep Learning Versus Machine Learning: As Everette describes the difference, machine learning is about a human delivering items alongside their classifications to a computer; whereas with deep learning, a computer is able to determine these classifications by itself. Deep learning, therefore, according to Everette’s description, can reduce the human role in the learning process while also increasing the learning speed for the computer. Though this technology has applications in security, certainly deep learning can have a profound impact across a range of applications. Weaponized AI: Everette tells the scary truth that attackers are now so sophisticated that they are using their own AI as a weapon, and that these attackers are “more patient these days.” This reality means that defenders have to keep upping their game to thwart these attacks. In any industry, it’s wise to remember that just because you are pressing an advantage, it doesn’t mean your adversary isn’t doing the same thing. From Games to Cybersecurity: Reflecting back on his career, Everette points to a love of gaming as his initial step toward cybersecurity. Although he had a winding career path from a love of games to cybersecurity, it is interesting to consider how one passion, that others might even disregard, can eventually lead to an entire career. IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

Mark Nelson is the President and CEO of Tableau, a company dedicated to democratizing analytics and putting data back in the hands of consumers. But while this digital pioneer may be excited about the technical side of things, he’s more excited about how accessing data (and asking the right questions) can evolve the human endeavor. Tune in to learn:What was the Golden Age of Data? (8:00)What are data specialists thinking about A.I.? (10:00)What is The ‘Big Three’ approach to expansion and why should you use it? (15:40)How is data a force for good? (23:03)Mentions:Data 10 Million ChallengeThe Data Leadership Collaborative As always, IT Visionaries is brought to you by The Salesforce Platform, and the folks at Salesforce Platform are excited about Tableau's Data Leadership Collaborative. You can get involved in data leadership conversations at DataLeadershipCollaborative.com and connect with like-minded leaders to help each other progress on the journey to build data-driven organizations.Mission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Working backward from problem to customer solution is the method that Harini Gokul uses in her role leading customer success at Amazon Web Services. Understanding what it means to be “customer-obsessed” is Harini’s favorite part of being on a team with “big builder energy.” Also, she describes some of the cloud-central innovations on the horizon that she is most excited about. Tune in to learn:How to turn a passion into a brand. (2:00)What does AWS do? (0:36)Why every millisecond matters in the customer journey. (4:02)What’s different about AWS culture? (8:12) What does it take to get companies to the cloud in a way that works for them? (21:13) IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platformMission.org is a media studio producing content for world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org.

Empathy, in a time of stress or decision-making, goes a long way in making someone feel cared for and understood. What if the businesses providing our services, flights, meals, etc, were already thinking about our wants and needs, and laying out options that apply to us. This kind of consumer-focused empathy, driven by user data, is the trait that Genesys’s, CEO Tony Bates, deemed so important that he made it a part of the corporate decision-making process. As Tony describes in this podcast, and in his book, “Empathy In Action,” times have changed in terms of what consumers want and expect from companies that provide services to them.Main TakeawaysExperience As a Service: If you think about the customer experience as one of the services that you provide, that creates room to allocate more resources to improving it.  Bates found that priortizing and making space for experience as a service helped them strategize at Genesys about problem-solving in more individualized ways. Data Informs a More Empathetic Customer Experience: As Bates describes, every consumer has unique needs for customer service and interaction. Companies can streamline resources to be there for customers who want more personalized attention and also easily serve customers who are more suited for an automated process on an app or chat experience. Empathetic listening and analysis of data can paint a picture of what a customer wants to experience and how you can help them solve their problems. Empathy in the Decision Making Equation:  A company framework for decision-making that is built on empathy ensures that empathy is actually implemented through the company. Bates is keen on the believe that quantifying the value of empathy with a number makes it easier to equate with traditional business values like efficiency.  IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

Top athletes duke it out to outperform their opponents; usually only winning by a slim margin. That margin is what matters, and part of having a competitive edge means having high-value information on what your competitors are doing. Crayon offers competitive intelligence and product marketing to its customers, and Erica Jenkins, their Chief Product Officer, shares that doing this well requires great communication.Main TakeawaysData Insight Helps Create Magical Products: There are a million different problems and a million different software products that could help solve them, but resources are limited. Using data to help determine where the needs are greatest can help you as a product leader to guide your team towards the most profitable product solutions. You Need to Repeat Yourself: Some would say repeating yourself, even often, is necessary. Repetition helps other people remember important information and act correspondingly if acting is required. For Erica, rephrasing her ideas is a way to know if her message is being communicated correctly.  You Need to Spell It Out: Don’t assume that just because the product you’ve built looks shiny and seems intuitive, people will readily understand how to use it. Even if it is painstakingly user-friendly, it never hurts to spell things out. Take advantage of creating walk-through tutorials for your products. It creates more value for your customers and highlights the features of the product. IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

We’ve all had those repetitive work tasks that must be done, are a total pain, and waste time too. Chaim Mazal, SVP of Technology and CISO at Kandji, makes the case for automation being used to free people up so that they can focus on more important work. Main TakeawaysAutomating for Freedom: There’s lots of talk about automation as a part of platforms and products. Chaim lays out in simple terms that the reason for automation is about freeing people up so they can drill down on more important work. It’s helpful to remember that humanity should be the guiding light at the core of any technological innovation. The question ought to be: How is this tech serving people. Or even better: How is this tech serving the world?From Customer to SVP and CISO: For Chaim, he came across Kandji in a previous job and Kandji was able to help him solve problems he was having managing devices for the prior company on an international scale. First of all, this is a really cool story. Secondly, it’s a reminder that employees can come from any place and that passion can be uncovered in any situation. Building Products: Chaim makes a fascinating point about data and strategy. He suggests that many of the companies that he worked at previously focused on using data to make products better. Yet he also describes how he likes to think more on the strategic side of things. Strategy, for him, at least in part, seems to be more about bringing in knowledgeable people; then thinking together about where the overall industry might be headed and acting accordingly.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

Metaphorically, the tech security world tends to look over a city-scape and hones in on a few shiny skyscrapers, protects them, and declares victory. These big buildings represent the largest institutions. But oftentimes, all the interconnected infrastructure of smaller homes remains unprotected — the smaller homes, in this context, are the SMBs and other various organizations. Sinan Eren, the VP of Zero Trust Access at Barracuda, broke down how security is interconnected across all institutions, regardless of size. Main TakeawaysAttackers Have a Market Now Too: Eren explains the challenges around the reality that cyber attackers have their own market now. Gone are the days when a singular attacker might be responsibile for conducting all elements of a criminal act. Instead, Eren reveals that an entire criminal community facilitates these acts. The Long Tail Must Be Protected: Eren points out that larger entities that have security in place can still be vulnerable through interactions with smaller and less secure entities in its supply chain. These smaller organizations include SMBs that often interact with larger companies. Furthermore, Eren suggests that there can be an ethical component to make sure that the entire community is secured, not only the largest companies and institutions. How to Secure SMBs: Since it is clear, from Eren’s point of view, that large businesses and SMBs are interconnected and therefore all must be secured or none will be, the question becomes: What is the best way to secure SMBs? Eren contends that security must be provided to SMBs through MSPs rather than as direct sales to SMBs. His argument is a very reasonable one — SMBs have too much on their plates already to handle security themselves.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform

Likely on the phone in your hand, while you’re playing this very podcast, is an app or site using Akamai in the background, so that you can listen, search, and discover new information as fast as you can think, type, or speak. Accelerating the delivery of the right content and blocking potentially harmful content are the nitty-gritty details that Akamai solves to give you a safe and seamless experience. Leading the charge to improve security and accelerate connectivity is Dr. Robert Blumofe, Executive Vice President and CTO of Akamai. Main TakeawaysPower and Protect Together: A common problem with security is that it slows things down for users and causes them to want to avoid using the security measures in the first place. To solve this problem, Dr. Blumofe explains that Akamai has integrated security and performance products on its platform so that they can work cooperatively. The lesson here for any sort of business is to constantly be considering how security and performance can function seamlessly so that neither is hindered by the other,Endpoint to Endpoint Mindset: Since the world is becoming more remote and more open, security must adapt to this environment. According to Dr. Blumofe, this means the framework of being on a network versus off a network is no longer really applicable. Instead, it is more helpful to consider how apps are connected together from one endpoint to another.The Office as a Coffee Shop: You can think about a new problem, like an increase in remote work, as being stressful, or as a chance to reframe it as an opportunity. Dr. Blumofe points out that returning to the office for face-to-face time will be even more purposeful — sort of like hanging out at the coffee shop with colleagues. He describes solving for the new remote office network as a high-performance coffee shop as being a “freeing and enabling concept.” The new perimeter-less architecture of access can actually facilitate collaboration.IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Build connected experiences, empower every employee, and deliver continuous innovation - with the customer at the center of everything you do. Learn more at salesforce.com/platform