IT Visionaries

Trucking in this country is a big deal. It’s a massive industry ripe for disruption because of its scale and the fact that there is plenty of room for technological advancement. According to Jairam Ranganathan, the SVP of Product at KeepTruckin, fleet management is also an area where a company can make a huge, positive impact.Main TakeawaysRipe for Disruption and Opportunity: Clearly, the commercial fleet industry is massive. Due to its size and also its fragmentation, innovations do take time. On the other hand, there is an incredible need for innovation and the potential to make a real impact in the fleet management space.Saving Lives and Increasing Quality of Life: According to Ranganathan, the exciting aspect of making a difference in fleet management comes down to helping people. He describes the satisfaction that is derived from saving lives on the road and from helping truck drivers have a better work experience. There’s a lesson here that can cut across all industries — helping others is a high value and is very motivating too.A.I. Cameras: A.I. cameras are one such innovation that Ranganathan is working on at KeepTruckin that can increase safety and save lives. Ranganathan shares how A.I. cameras can provide life-saving information in real time. Where sometimes it may be difficult to easily quantify the benefit of A.I., here is a crystal clear example of how A.I. can be used to better human life.Fleet Management Integration: Ranganathan suggests that the fleet management world was fairly atomized when KeepTruckin came on the scene. He explains that KeepTruckin made a decision when entering the market to focus on integrated products. KeepTruckin creates hardware and software products as well as diverse applications. To make a dent in a market among specialized companies, creating a more integrated product line makes sense to offer more utility and ease for customers.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Developing enterprise apps quickly is essential for business success, and securing data during the development process is imperative too. Jedidiah Yueh, the Founder and CEO of Delphix, suggests that though not as many people are talking about securing data in the app development process, they should be. Even more so, he argues they must secure this data or face huge consequences. Main TakeawaysSomething People Need to Talk About: Talking about data security is all the rage. But according to Yueh, securing development data is not discussed as much. Yueh contends that this lack of attention creates security vulnerabilities that bad actors can exploit. He believes that automated platforms built on zero trust principles can mitigate such risks.Out With the Old in With the New: The old way of testing apps in development involved a group of people all helping to gather production data and then copy that to the development territory. Of course, with so many hands in the process, the data was not very secure. Now, a platform, like Delphix, can make that process automatic; therefore, more secure. Setting Loftier IT Goals: Yueh argues that IT leaders are not setting high enough goals in terms of developing products quickly enough. In a conversation about his book, “Disrupt or Die,” he explains that the rate of acceleration is much faster than the typical business cycle so leaders must adapt the pace of their goals 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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Developing physical products quickly is what it’s all about in a fast-paced world. What slows down the development speed and drives up cost are the materials and the time it takes to see if a concept works. Using digital simulations, alongside predictive analytics, increases speed while lowering costs. Prith Banerjee, the Chief Technology Officer at Ansys, makes the point that the precise capabilities of simulations today are providing the power to create new products from the micro to the macro.Main TakeawaysThe Appeal of Digital Simulations: The old process of developing a product would involve lots of different versions and materials. With the use of a digital simulation, in other words, a digital twin, all these trial and error versions can play out in the digital arena. Doing so increases development speed and reduces cost.Academia and Industry: Academia, at its best, projects forward into the future new possibilities that are later implemented across industries. Therefore, forward-thinking industries ought to have a motivation to connect to academia to offer resources so that academic institutions can strive for innovations. Ansys is partnering with a number of academic institutions to make its simulation software available for free.    Exciting Simulations Now and in the Future: Banerjee mentions current digital simulation use cases ranging from the oil industry to electrification of cars to heating and cooling huge buildings. Furthermore, he shares excitement in the healthcare area because, right now, there is an ability to simulate a heart that is having a problem functioning to see if a pacemaker will solve the issue. With this level of precision, one can imagine all manner of encouraging applications for simulations both now and in the future of healthcare and in many other areas 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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A company’s position about digital transformation could be out with the old and in with the new. But, generally, if a product or service has existed for a long time, that’s because it has held its value. In a legacy business with good values and a deep tradition, digitization of services is more about improving respected systems as well as innovating with a forward-looking mindset. Stacey Goodman, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Prudential Financial, describes her strategy for transforming the digital experience at Prudential.Main TakeawaysTransforming a Legacy Company: It’s a big lift to digitally transform a legacy company such as Prudential, which has existed for 145 years. But a company with good values and an established track record of delivering for customers has a great foundation on which to build upon. In other words, challenges are opportunities. One challenge that Prudential constantly faces is scale combined with the complexity of its life insurance and annuities products. Furthermore, a company with so much history also has a high volume of products that must be managed.Marriage Between Customer and CIO Priorities: Most customers want more access at the touch of their fingertips. Prudential customers want to be able to see their assets whenever they want; particularly, during times of economic uncertainty. Customers desire the freedom to explore and make their own choices yet advisement help when needed. As CIO, Goodman’s goals are in support of what customers desire. For instance, she cares about making sure customers can easily get their password, or that robotic advice is readily available when customers want help.Culture and Dynamic Work Attracts Talent: Goodman has a unique mindset regarding attracting and retaining talent at Prudential. Fundamentally, she sees the company having a good culture and providing interesting work. She makes the point that sometimes startup culture and work does not always meet the hype and that working at Prudential can provide employees a comfortable environment. An established company with well-defined structures in place can support its workers. She sees Prudential as the sort of place where employees want to be.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The data science field is expanding because so many businesses and other institutions require skilled workers who can manage data as well as provide insights. Companies and students are clamoring for more academic programs. There is great need, but academic institutions are still transitioning to meet the demand. Dr. David Bader, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute for Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, explains how his school is leading the charge to create opportunities for more students to study data scienceMain TakeawaysConnecting Data and Graphs: A current area of focus concerning data science for Bader and his institution is taking huge amounts of data and associating it with corresponding graphs. This process helps provide context to the data so insights can be gleaned.Arriving at Insights With Less Data: One difficulty with gaining insights is that typically it takes a lot of data points to make sense of a significant occurrence. Often, in the real world, insights need to be determined faster and with less data. Consider the archetype of the malevolent lone wolf who may have not had done the behavior previously. The answer is two-fold in order to stop a lone wolf type of situation. One, create more context to whatever data is obtainable. Second, consider data that may not be the exact same behavior but is still relevant.Academia Is Rising to the Challenge: All manner of institutions now have massive amounts of data and need people to manage it and provide insights. Academia may be somewhat slow to change but there is a push from companies and from students for more data science programs. These sorts of programs are growing throughout higher education but there is much more room for expansion.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every company wants to grow their market. But in order to expand into another region, one corner of the market has to be secured first. Only from this position of utility and stability can a business secure other territories. Todd Olson, the CEO of Pendo, explains his strategy.Main TakeawaysCreating a New Product Market: Many companies disrupt a current market. It’s another category altogether to create a new product market. Although it’s a great problem to have with a ton of upside, one area of focus must be on educating prospective buyers. Of course, having an effective product that’s easy to implement is the best pitch. Pendo was able to provide its software product to businesses easily and without involving developers. This helped give Pendo a foot in the door to prove what it could do.Strategizing for Future Growth: Pendo’s plans for growth are educative. One side of the approach is to continue to sell current products to new markets; both nationally and internationally. The other side is to develop new products that will further benefit existing customers. Furthermore, it’s intriguing how Pendo’s product has moved from SaaS B2B clients to other arenas as those individuals who’ve used the product have moved into different industries and brought Pendo with them.Representing Raleigh: Finding and retaining top talent is a concern for many businesses today. Pendo has an interesting angle because it is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. In Raleigh, there’s natural beauty, a low cost of living, and also access to the talent coming out of many of the colleges and universities in the region. Although Pendo is based in Raleigh, it has offices in New York and San Francisco to utilize the talent in those areas as well.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Passwords are the worst things ever. Okay, maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, but they are pretty annoying. Here are the top hits of their most obnoxious qualities: One, they cause friction to get things done. Two, who can remember all their passwords? Three, it’s easy for bad actors to steal them. Four, practically everything requires a password now, so there are just too many. Mickey Boodaei, the CEO of Transmit Security, also agrees that passwords are terrible, but he has a solution to get rid of them.Main TakeawaysThe Problems With Passwords: Passwords have become ubiquitous. Despite the good intention behind them to foster security, they remain cumbersome and ineffective. The layers added to passwords to make them more secure are insufficient. Two-factor authentication remains vulnerable to bad actors. Though biometric authentication is a helpful technology, many apps that attempt to harness it still have a password underneath the biometrics.Getting Rid of Passwords: Biometric data held on secure devices is part of the solution to move people beyond passwords. The data on a private device is very secure overall. Furthermore, it is possible to create trust between devices to provide access to applications, etc.Cryptographic Keys: Biometric data on a secure device can then be used for authentication through the creation of parallel cryptographic keys — a private key that stays with the device and a corresponding public key connected to an application. Using this technology, the private key always remains secure on the individual device. This makes it very difficult for bad actors to access any data of import.   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  -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just like there’s too much junk on Earth, we’re sending up too much junk into space now too.  As private enterprise gains more access to space, even more satellites are launched up there —  taking up space. It’s a real problem with the potential to get worse as businesses have greater interest and access to get their gear into space. Bruno Carvalho, the Director of D-Orbit, contends that the answer is better space logistics in order to support space sustainability. Main TakeawaysSpace Sustainability: Space is filling up fast. The concern for space collisions and the dangers of debris is real. Sustainable solutions concerning satellites must be developed and implemented because their numbers will only be increasing.Space Taxis: D-Orbit has essentially developed a space taxi system to put satellites in their final orbital positions. These taxis can have additional applications after they have completed their taxiing missions. For instance, this sort of vehicle could perhaps be used to pick up space refuse. They also relay important alert information back to Earth more quickly.Partnering with AWS: Partnering with AWS enables D-Orbit, like many companies, to reduce its own need for infrastructure. Also, the use of the AWS Ground Stations help reduce delay by increasing the speed at which D-Orbit can access its data via the cloud.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Running fast is good but not headfirst into a brick wall. Similarly, software development needs to move fast, but moving too fast typically is not secure and can cause headaches. Furthermore, old security protocols are insufficient and inefficient. Idan Plotnik, the Co-Founder & CEO of Apiiro, makes the case for a platform that quickly provides contextualized information concerning codingMain TakeawaysContextualized Info: An old way of checking code often involved the coders themselves answering a long list of questions. This was inefficient and ineffective. A more helpful approach is to have a platform that quickly provides contextualized information concerning the coding, the process, and potential breaks in the chain. With this type of info, security risks can much more efficiently be discovered and addressed. Establishing Trust: A platform that provides contextualized information can assist in communication between AppSec teams and developers. If an AppSec team is able to approach the developers with helpful information, then that can establish trust between all parties. With trust established, everybody can work together to reduce the security risk.   Mission-oriented: An entrepreneur, or a company, should have passion for their mission, whether that’s in securing software development or otherwise. In Israel, there is certainly a connection between innovation and the lessons that many entrepreneurs have learned during their military service. Mission-oriented values seem to translate to successful business outcomes.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  -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If data is in a pool that only keeps getting deeper as data inventory is accounted for, when is the exact moment for a business leader to jump in to do something with all the accumulated information? Leaders who care about data appreciate that it’s necessary to take stock before analyzing and strategizing. But taking inventory could be all one does because, whether it’s in a small or large business, the amount of data is only increasing. Mara Reiff, the Chief Data Officer of FreshBooks, suggests to account for enough data to begin the work and then to dive in.Main TakeawaysTaking Stock and Then Activating: A company must take inventory of its data, of course. But taking stock of data is a perpetual process. So, the trick becomes knowing when enough data has been collected so that you can move to applying that information to solve particular problems on behalf of customers. Being a Data Advocate: With so much data at any singular organization, there can be a natural tendency to want to put one person in charge of all data and for that individual to have total responsibility, Reiff made the point that it’s impossible to be responsible for all data if one is not in control of who is adding all the data. Over time, she has come to see her role as being a leader who advocates for all the company’s data to be used in a responsible and constructive manner.A Scientific Data Mentality: Accumulating data at a business is not done for its own sake. Whether one has a science background or not, using data to help customers is about hypothesizing, testing, making a case, and then acting on that basis. Sometimes it’s about finding a particular customer with an issue that needs addressing; other times it’s about anticipating customer needs and acting accordingly to address them.ML and NLP: Many leaders in the data field are excited about the prospects of machine learning and natural language processing. One area to zero in on as a benefit is how NLP can really help in the area of translation; particularly for companies that operate in many countries. The mission for FreshBooks is to make accounting easier for small businesses, which the company serves in 160 countries. Translating language accurately and efficiently would certainly smooth and simplify accounting practices, among many other applications for other industries.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 -- This episode of IT Visionaries is brought to you by Meter - the company building better networks. Businesses today are frustrated with outdated providers, rigid pricing, and fragmented tools. Meter changes that with a single integrated solution that covers everything wired, wireless, and even cellular networking. They design the hardware, write the firmware, build the software, and manage it all so your team doesn't have to.That means you get fast, secure, and scalable connectivity without the complexity of juggling multiple providers. Thanks to meter for sponsoring. Go to meter.com/itv to book a demo.---IT Visionaries is made by the team at Mission.org. Learn more about our media studio and network of podcasts at mission.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.