IT Visionaries

James Watters is currently the CTO of Modern Application Platforms at VMware, but he has truly done it all. Whether it was working with large corporate companies or helping startups establish themselves in the private sector, James has been there. On this episode of IT Visionaries, James sits down to discuss some of the things he’s learned along the way, including why he believes it’s imperative for research and development teams to work side-by-side with clients, what forced some of the changes we see in enterprise applications today and how these unprecedented times will shape technology moving forward. Key Takeaways The Connection between research and development and working with clients is imperative, especially when it comes to shaping the end-user experience The evolution of the cloud forced enterprises to alter their applications to a more simplified and streamlined approach. One of the most important things moving forward will be figuring out how to give a 100% digital customer experience --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

On IT Visionaries, we talk to many different CIOs, but for this episode, the CIO we’re chatting with is different than what you’re probably expecting. Today, we’re excited to welcome Suzanne DiBianca, the Chief Impact Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations at Salesforce. Suzanne has been with Salesforce for 20 years and helped the company build up its philanthropic arms, including pioneering the 1-1-1 model so many organizations now adopt. In this discussion, Suzanne takes us through her history with the organization and talks about how to build a culture of sustainability. She also explains some of the climate initiatives that Salesforce has been spearheading and why a project like One Trillion Trees is so important right now in this decade of action.  Key Takeaways:   Creating a culture of sustainability is about achieving buy-in throughout the organizaition You need to meet people where they are in order to get them to commit to implementing new programs or  We are in a decade of action and One Trillion Trees is an initiative that has the potential to make a difference   --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Take climate action with a pre-built carbon accounting solution and gain insights into your greenhouse gas emissions.  Learn more at Salesforce.com/solutions/sustainability. -- 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.

The world has changed drastically in the last 10 years. From the rise of the smartphone to the move to the cloud to new uses of A.I., how technology is being used keeps evolving. And it’s not slowing down. Jason Hoffman is the Chair Of The Board Of Directors and President & CEO of MobiledgeX, and on this episode of IT Visionaries, he explains why everyone is asking the question, what’s next? And he explains the role edge computing will play in the answer. Key Takeaways:   Technically and architecturally, there is no difference between the cloud and the edge  The advancement in technology and the demand for more collaborative or interactive experiences means compute speed needs to increase The biggest question facing the industry is what is coming next?   --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

Imagine you’re an environmentalist fresh out of school and you’ve just landed your first opportunity in the corporate world. You’re excited and eager to take on the challenges ahead of you. The only problem is, instead of saving the world and finding new ways to make a difference, you’re looking at spreadsheets...for hours. Welcome to the world of greenhouse gas accounting, or at least the old world. On this episode of IT Visionaries, we brought in two industry leaders who are making a difference. Ari Alexander, GM of Salesforce Sustainability Cloud, and Shengyuan Su, Program Manager, Sustainability at Salesforce, join the show to discuss how Salesforce’s Sustainability Cloud is changing the way environmentalists report emissions, why companies voluntarily report their carbon emissions and how the private sector is being asked to lead the charge for governments around the world. Key Takeaways:   Movement in the industry is happening and a lot of that movement is based on peer pressure and the fear of bad publicity Governments are asking private sector companies to carry the torch when it comes to carbon accounting because they believe companies are further along in the process The vast majority of Fortune 1000 companies were using spreadsheets to do their annual greenhouse gas inventory. The Sustainability Cloud was designed to help companies better understand their carbon footprint and more efficiently report it --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience. Take climate action with a pre-built carbon accounting solution and gain insights into your greenhouse gas emissions.  Learn more at Salesforce.com/solutions/sustainability. -- 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.

Do you know the current state of the edge? If you do, it’s most likely because of the work that Matthew Trifiro has done in recent years. Matthew is the CMO at Vapor IO and Co-Chair at State of the Edge and on this episode of IT Visionaries, he tells us about how and why he wanted to create the State of the Edge report. Plus, he explains what is going on in the world of edge computing and what might come next. Key Takeaways The State of the Edge report is an authority on what is really going on in the world of edge computing Moving to edge computing is going to be a necessary part of the re-architecture of the internet The speed with which we need to analyze data is increasing, which means we need to use edge computing to analyze in real-time --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

In the last few months, we have seen quite a shift in our world. Our day-to-day lives are vastly different, and the way many of us live and work has changed. Companies around the globe are adjusting to this new normal and trying to navigate how to not only manage their workforces and provide the necessary technology and productivity tools but, more importantly, how to ensure their employees’ wellbeing. On this special episode of IT Visionaries, we brought in two tech leaders, Julie Cullivan, the Chief People, and Technology Officer at ForeScout Technologies, and Sarah Franklin, the EVP & GM Platform, Trailhead & Developers at Salesforce, to discuss how they are navigating through these unprecedented times. Things are hard, there’s no doubt about it, but as both women say, when you put the human element first, have empathy for others, and keep a positive attitude, we can all make it through this together.  Key Takeaways: The human element and how people are managing on a human level must always come first New work environments pose unique challenges, from how to provide productivity tools to how to encourage employees to maintain a separation between work and home When we get through this, we will be living in a new normal, and it might actually include changes for the better --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

In the IT world, and throughout life in general, there are always going to be jobs that no one else wants to do. They’re hard, time-consuming, and starting them might only lead to more problems and questions. But according to Jim Fowler, those are the jobs you always want to take. Jim is the CTO of Nationwide, and he says that by taking on those tough jobs, he was able to build skills to become a technology leader. He explains that, and discusses all the technology and innovation going on behind the scenes at Nationwide, on this episode of IT Visionaries.  Key Takeaways Doing jobs nobody wants is a smart career move The term “digital transformation” is both overused and misunderstood Technology is a bridge to help you connect with and keep your promises to customers --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

United Way is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the world, and it has more than 120 years of history and a tradition of good work that guides everyone associated with the organization. But if you think back 120 years ago, the way things were done look alien to how things work today. This is a digital world and that carries over into the way the people give back. In order to keep up with the times, United Way has recently been in the process of a major digital transformation and in order to accomplish their digital goals, the folks in charge are relying on the Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud to help make an impact. On this episode of IT Visionaries, we spoke with Ann Edmonds, the Program Lead for Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud at United Way, and William Browning, the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer for United Way, and they discussed everything involved in the transformation, why Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud has been a great partner, and what the future might hold. Key Takeaways:   The demands of the younger generation have created an environment of digital transformation in every industry, including philanthropy  Creating unique experiences will go a long way in building strong, lasting relationships with users You can’t wait for the perfect solution — you have to iterate constantly   --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

Prakash Kota is the CIO at Autodesk, a company he has been with for 15 years. Obviously, things have changed at the company and in the world since that first day, and Prakash has seen it all and adjusted to all the changes along the way. On this episode of IT Visionaries, he tells us about his journey and he breaks down what is going on at Autodesk today, including the types of internal innovation they are focused on and the new technology and bots they are using every day.  Key Takeaways:   Digitizing is about removing friction and creating value Automation is important in digital transformations, but it should be used selectively and intentionally As a CIO, you have to have a mindset where you are always looking to enable your customers and employees to have a better experience and be more productive all the time   --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.

As a journalist during the dot-com boom and throughout more than a decade as the Editor In Chief of the MIT Technology Review, Jason Pontin has seen technology of all kinds emerge from its earliest stages to become the world-shifting technology we and use today. After watching that evolution happen for so long, Jason decided he wanted in on the action. Today. He is a Senior Advisor for Flagship Pioneering, where he is focused on how technology can be used to make a larger impact on the world. On this episode, he talks about some of the projects and companies he’s involved with, and he explains why he believes A.I. and deep learning will be huge forces in shaping the world moving forward.  Key Takeaways:   Certain technologies — like A.I. and gene editing — will have a greater impact than we currently understand Using computers and A.I. to do things that humans can’t will, hopefully, lead to more breakthroughs New technology can lead to new and better jobs, but it takes time   --- IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Customer 360 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.