IT Visionaries

The word “cloud” is often uttered up in an almost reverent tone by anyone even tangentially affiliated with the IT world. A big reason for this is because cloud computing has been a tremendous boon for all manner of institutions. Getting away from on-prem servers has reduced cost and increased the speed at which organizations operate as well as the amount of data and applications that can be used to add value. But there is a tremendous amount of complexity in the cloud. With so many developers working in the cloud, there are also many potential access points and, therefore, security vulnerabilities. Ami Luttwak, the Co-founder and CTO of Wiz, explains how cloud complexity increases risks to security.Main TakeawaysThe Promise and Problem With the Cloud: Use of the cloud can add value to organizations. For instance, the cloud can potentially decrease cost and promote efficiency. It also adds complexity and possible access points. For bad actors, this sort of complexity creates openings to infiltrate systems in order to achieve their malevolent ends.Asking the Question Differently: To innovate, sometimes it’s a matter of just asking a question differently. Also, asking the question simply can be helpful too. That said, it may only appear to be an elemental question after it has actually been answered. Wiz asked the basic question: are your cloud databases exposed? Solving this problem has allowed the company to make an impact in cloud security.MVP Plus Scale: In startup circles, it makes sense to get an MVP out ASAP. Luttwak suggests that startups must create MVPs that also have the capacity to scale. If they do so, they will save time and put their companies in a better position down the line.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

Recent disruptions have stretched supply chains all over the world. In some cases, supply chains have been broken in their weak places and have needed to be repaired. But there will always be unexpected events and outcomes. What helps are predictive models that can aid in decision-making. Dr. Madhav Durbha, the VP of Supply Chain Strategy at Coupa Software, suggests simulations can help companies make smart decisions that will lead to great heights.Main TakeawaysMacroeconomics: In order to best guide its customers, Coupa needs to have a sense of the ever-evolving, macroeconomic landscape. To do so, Coupa compiles and analyzes data from external as well as internal sources. Machine learning is an asset to help pour over and analyze the external data. Coupa is able to leverage its vast community of customers, and their data/resources, in order to provide high value insights. Digital Twins: Digital modeling is an effective tool in order to analyze a given company’s supply chain. Predictive models can be established and then informed decisions can be made and implemented to impact the supply chain in the physical world. Two Big Supply Chain Steps: One thing companies can do to shore up their supply chains is to go from a mentality of a one-to-one relationship with each distributor to instead thinking about each element of the supply chain as a multi-layered network. With this new mentality, companies can form relationships with other entities in the supply chain and leverage their scale in order to secure the products that they require. Additionally, companies must have a willingness to work with governments in order to secure the supply chain. This may involve certain products being manufactured at the local level rather than relying upon the global supply chain.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

There is a lot of conversation among IT security leaders about engaging the workforce in order to mitigate threats. But how do security professionals actually win people over to their side? Many employees are willing to comply but what can be done to really get through to those that are resistant? Johanna Baum, the CEO and Founder of S3 (Strategic Security Solutions), contends that to enact change, leaders must involve those that are most reluctant to go along with security protocols — especially the person still keeping their login password on a post-it note on their computer. In order to change the security culture of a company, Johanna suggests seeking out the person at a company who is least likely to comply.Main TakeawaysIt Comes Down to the People: There’s always going to be a security tech stack. A security platform and relevant apps will help reduce threats. But, fundamentally, people are still required to act with any given platform or system as part of the security solution. Furthermore, employees also need to engage in secure behaviors that reduce the overall risk to the company.Involve the Malcontents: Cultural change concerning security is only as strong as the weakest link. Leaders must seek out the malcontents in order to engage them in the process. Leaders must put employees who are reluctant to accept security protocols in situations where they can test out measures and be part of the solution. Keep Security Simple: Because there are so many security threats, there can be a tendency to assume risk mitigation must be very complicated and beyond human capacity. Although artificial intelligence and automation can certainly be helpful to thwart so many threats, there are also really simple things people can do on their own to embolden security. For instance, this can be as basic as ensuring people log out or use effective passwords. On a company-wide level, it can be as elemental as making sure there is an up to date list of all the users at the organization.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

If the topic of databases is brought up to certain people, their eyes may gloss over. But if that happened, that would be because they just don’t know the awesome power of databases. Data can be valuable but only if it is contextualized, and time is an extremely relevant aspect to consider when analyzing huge amounts of data. Paul Dix, the founder and CTO of InfluxData and the Creator of InfluxDB, explains how a time series database can help provide that temporal contextual information to promote efficiencies.Main TakeawaysTime Contextualizes Data: Data has value only when it is placed in context and then the information gleaned from it is applied into actionable items. Time is a key factor to provide a basis for understanding information. A time series database, iike InfluxDB, can provide this sort of context for server and IoT device monitoring. This info can then be applied to track performance and increase efficiency.Failure Becomes Opportunity: Sometimes it’s hard to see how a win can come from a loss, and most people try their very best to avoid losing. But the reality is that learning is happening when something is being created, and the knowledge that’s gained in the creative process has nothing to do with the outcome of a given project. To ultimately be successful, the lesson is to take what’s been learned and then keep pivoting until the product and the market are aligned and the timing is right.Evolving Engineering: Technology is always advancing rapidly. Therefore, even a successful product will require adaptations to meet new challenges. Accepting the reality of the high rate of change and, therefore, the need to constantly adjust accordingly will position a company in the best position to succeed.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

Human beings have an ability to tolerate quite a bit. Oftentimes, this is a helpful survival strategy. Rather than being overwhelmed by life’s frailties to the point flight or fight is kicking in, it’s generally a good thing to accept the realities of existence that cannot be changed and then operate accordingly on that basis. This is better than being constantly unnerved by real and sometimes alarming things that it seems one cannot control. But sometimes a huge disruption lets people know that they have been tolerating something concerning that’s impact could have been mitigated by a sustained effort which leads to a new solution. Neil Day, CTO of R-Zero, makes this point about the seeming unstoppability of certain infectious diseases. Main TakeawaysSolving Multiple Problems: Not only was the coronavirus a huge problem, typical disinfectant solutions, such as liquid disinfectants, were difficult to apply and inefficient. Of course, massive problems are also opportunities for innovation.Relying on Something Tried and True: Using UV light as a disinfectant has historical precedence as well as scientific evidence concerning its effectiveness to curb the spread of viruses. R-Zero leaned into this established technology and then created a product that could utilize it effectively. Sensors in the machine as well as its capacity to hold data allow for implementation of risk management procedures.Now That We Are Utilizing UV More…: UV technology may become a more typical means to disinfect both businesses, and, eventually, homes. In recent history, people have mostly accepted that illness from viruses is an inevitable part of life. Based upon the experience of the pandemic and the potential solutions that may spring forth to solve that problem, this mentality may evolve and push humanity into a different expectation concerning health. 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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

With so much change happening at such a fast pace, the digital transformation process can feel like it must be extremely far along and, perhaps, near completion. Companies have been moving as speedily as possible to adapt their businesses to the digital realm and, in many cases, to create new digital territories altogether. If digital transformation was a baseball game, it could be easy to assume that the transition is in the latter innings. Rich Nanda, the US Monitor Deloitte Practice Leader at Deloitte Consulting, offers a contrary perspective.Main TakeawaysConsultation with Specificity and a Broad Vision: With the intensity of digital transformation happening across all sectors, consultants must adjust their skillsets. On one hand, they must have thorough domain expertise. Yet, on the other hand, consultants must be able to take a broader view as well in order to best guide their clients in these fast-moving times. Growth Versus Fixed Business Mindset: To be successful, leaders must adopt a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. A fixed mindsight is rigid and sees the world as locked in place. A growth mindset accepts that change is inevitable. With a growth mindset, change is seen as an opportunity rather than a problem.Opportunities for Expansion: Projecting forward, there will be amazing opportunities for expansion. Companies will be in a position for more mergers and acquisitions. Some companies will jump outside their typical lane to pursue more opportunities. Companies not traditionally thought of as intrinsically associated with tech, or software, may find unique opportunities to delve into new digital territories.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

Technology can no longer be isolated from the rest of life and only discussed in particular circles among scholars, professionals, or those that just like to geek out on tech. This is because the innovation is too rapid, the tools are too powerful, and the stakes are too high. Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, the CEO & Publisher of the MIT Technology Review, explains that people must consider how technology is impacting their lives and suggests journalists need to play a role in framing these conversations.Main TakeawaysThe Need for Ethical Debate About Technology: Technology is touching just about every area of life. Now, more than ever, thoughtful stories about technology are needed to educate and engage the public in necessary ethical conversations. The question must be asked: Is a certain technology going to be good or bad for humanity and for the world? People must then respectfully debate that question and act accordingly based upon their convictions.Modernizing a Legacy Publication: Many publishing companies have adapted to incorporate a digital space. An important first step to do so is a willingness to disrupt the current publication. Additionally, training writers for this format is an essential step as the format is shorter and the frequency intensifies.  Knowing Your Lane and Always Earning an Audience: A media company, and any organization for that matter, must know its mission. Then, it’s a matter of producing high quality content with that lane in mind and constantly earning an audience by adding value to the customers’ lives.  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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

There’s a general tendency for people to desire to fit in — to want to be on the inside of systems and institutions. The drive to be in the in-crowd or on the team is so embedded in the socialization process that the idea of being an outsider often becomes associated with something undesirable. But many times people who come into a situation with an outsider perspective see things more clearly and can come up with alternative solutions to problems. That was the case for Rory San Miguel, the CEO of Propeller Aero, whose outsider perspective led to innovation in the construction and surveying industries. Main TakeawaysOutsiders Can See Solutions: Maybe being an insider isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, there are VIP perks, but there is also the myopic vision that can develop from spending too much time on the inside.There’s a greater scope of vision when looking in from a distance. An outsider perspective is also an advantage because there’s less to lose and more to gain.An Adaptable Construction Industry: Oftentimes, construction is unfairly categorized as an industry that is resistant to change. The truth is that the construction industry is pretty adaptable to new technologies. The construction business is about building tangible things and the margins really matter. It’s ready and willing to adapt to any technology that helps in getting the work done and that’s good for the bottom line too.A Frisbee and a Pizza Box: There’s a lesson to be learned from being willing to walk down a path with a spirit of openness and see where it leads. At the beginning stages, Propeller Aero knew its passion without having a clear sense of application. As doors were cracked open by customers showing the way, Propeller, led by its founders, walked through the door into the surveying industry. A Frisbee and then a pizza box were outside of the box influences toward innovation. Propeller Aero shows that it’s good to think outside the box and, in fact, maybe use a pizza box as a prototype to solve a complex problem. Loyalty in Both Directions: Customers that believe in a business and give multiple chances to deliver can provide that runway innovators need to uncover a solution. On the other hand, companies should be loyal to their customer base. There can be a tendency to want to expand to other industries and go wide rather than deep. Really, loyalty between businesses and customers is all about valuing relationships and deepening them over time. 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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

There’s an obvious tension in the crypto world between decentralization and centralization. Of course, Bitcoin was a reaction against the power of the entrenched banking systems and a move toward individual economic empowerment. The essential element of blockchain technology is a distributed ledger, so it’s a reasonable desire for those who care about the technology to want the scale tipped toward decentralization. It’s also undeniable that some centralization often proves useful with scaling and building trust. But living within the tension between decentralization and centralization may be the key to empowering individual people by providing them with economic access. Manish Gupta, the EVP of Engineering at Coinbase, makes the case that Coinbase is equipped to democratize the crypto economy. Main TakeawaysTension Between Decentralization and Centralization: Coinbase is living between the binary of a centralized versus a decentralized system. Fundamentally, by maintaining a balance between both paradigms, it has an opportunity to further democratize the crypto economy,Seeing Opportunity Instead of a Problem: When the crypto economy has boomed in the past, the Coinbase site has gone down, at times, due to the volume of users on the site. Trust is essential for Coinbase customers, so being able to solve for capacity issues is essential for sustaining that trust. In part, the solution to handling traffic issues has been to institute a series of tests to be proactive rather than leaning on a spike in the market to test the system. For Coinbase and Manish Gupta, these platform issues became an opportunity to strengthen the platform.Leaning into Decentralizing Technologies: Coinbase has made a strategic decision to lean into decentralized products. Overall, Coinbase plans to focus on decentralizing its workforce, products, and what it builds on the blockchain. One example of offering increased decentralization on the platform is creating wallets where assets can be individually held rather than combined into a larger pool of assets.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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.

Disruption is a word that gets thrown around a lot in business. It’s curious because most people don’t want their day to day to be disrupted in regular life. People don’t just casually offer up the phrase, “I can’t wait for some disruption today.” But that’s why it’s absolutely necessary. It helps to change things up and see the world differently. Umesh Sachdev, the Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore, explains how he first realized the call center industry was ready for an evolution.Main TakeawaysCreating Super Call Center Agents: A.I. in conjunction with automation can act as a coach or mentor for agents. It can give clues as to customers’ engagement while helping provide data and facts in real time. It can also take notes on the conversations so there is a record to reflect back on and use to make improvements. This A.I. augmentation turns agents into super agents. Language, Tone, and Facial Recognition: A.I. has had an incredible progression. Initially, A.I. was trained for language and then for tone of voice. Now, A.I. can read faces and gestures. All of this accumulated interpreted data can be applied to provide call agents, or whomever, with the information they need to better communicate with customers.Applying Knowledge: It’s one thing to acquire information as an engineer or a business leader. But acquiring knowledge without applying it is like holding the best tasting spice in the world in one’s hand but never adding it to any food. Knowledge that is held but not applied is wasted. Use knowledge to solve problems. Switching to Sales: Sometimes engineers and creators are so focused on their work that they forget about sales. The obvious aspect of doing so is that without funding, the creativity stops. Reframing striving to make sales as a creative, communicative job helps. Also, customers can provide insights and ideas for new, interesting projects. 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 -- Brightspot is the leading content management platform built for modern teams. Your content lifecycle - from ideation to archival - moves faster, handling any volume, variety, or velocity with ease. Unlike legacy platforms that demand heavy dev work and struggle with scale, Brightspot is user-friendly, endlessly customizable, and enterprise-ready. Think dynamic, modern experiences, shipped in minutes—not months. Trusted by some of the world’s leading tech organizations, Brightspot reduces total cost of ownership, boosts productivity, and gives you the governance, security, and performance your teams need. Visit brightspot.com/ITVisionaries to learn more.---This episode was produced by the team at Mission.org and brought to you by Brightspot.