IT Visionaries

From tinkering with his first 486 SX computer in his early teens to becoming a senior solutions architect at AHEAD, Brantley Richbourg is continuing to eat, sleep, and breath computers. Like all fellow computer nerds, curiosity is his driving force. At an early age, Brantley was stringing pieces of yarn all across his childhood home. Strand by strand, Brantley’s curiosity of connecting things slowly trickled into technology as he grew up. And as a senior solutions architect, Brantley continues to find himself connecting AHEAD’s clients to the cloud. In this episode of IT Visionaries, Brantley delves into the current state of digital transformations into the cloud, the importance of edge computing, and how Brantley handles pushback. Key Takeaways: Details on digital transformations for enterprise companies The future of edge computing and 5G Advice on overcoming pushback    Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.

Ali Diab, Co-founder and CEO of Collective Health, shares his personal journey through the healthcare system and how he built Collective Health to improve the quality and cost of company-sponsored health care. He discusses the need to disrupt the healthcare industry, the role of technology in disruption, and the potential of AI. The podcast also touches on the brokenness of the healthcare system, democratizing healthcare through technology, and the importance of solving urgent problems in a meaningful career.

Craig Walker was our guest on the first-ever episode of IT Visionaries. We’re so excited to welcome him back for a second interview in which he dives into everything from his origin story to what it means to be a leader. And he should know. Craig is the VP and CIO of Shell Downstream at Shell International Petroleum Company, and he has spent the majority of his career with the company. His journey in tech has taken him all over the world and he’s been forced to learn on the fly and make mistakes. But those mistakes have been the most important learning experiences of his life, and now he’s encouraging his employees to explore and fail and learn in similar ways. Craig shares all of that and more on this episode. We hope you enjoy his insights.     Key Takeaways:   Progressing your career with one company Lessons learned from unique experiences and failure How to inspire innovation and create an exceptional employee experience The future of data and how to leverage it in new ways     Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.

While in high school, Wendy Pfeiffer won a contest and was brought on to do a research project at NASA. It was the first time she was exposed to computers and she fell in love with the technology. From there, Wendy slowly grew into a career in tech and now serves as the CIO of Nutanix. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Wendy explains what her role entails, how she works with peers in the industry to make business more efficient through the use of hybrid cloud, and the highs and lows of working with a net promoter score.  Key Takeaways: How being the Nutanix CIO leads to close work with other CIOs The benefits of a hybrid cloud How customers become more efficient thanks to Nutanix Using a net promoter score to move the business forward   Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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 no doubt that when Jason Warner joined the team at Github he would have a lot of questions to answer. Github was trying to find its footing in a development industry dominated by the Googles of the world, and as the SVP of Technology, Jason was the man looking to rebuild trust and vision within the company. Jason succeeded and on this episode of IT Visionaries, he explains how. Plus, he dives into what a good employee experience looks like, how developers will evolve over the next decade, and why having a distributed team is the way to go in today’s world.  Key Takeaways: Mapping success during the early days at Github The future of the industry and developers The merits of having a distributed team   Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.

Rahul Pathak’s experience in the tech industry dates back to the early days of the internet boom and he’s been riding the wave, monitoring trends ever since. The journey has allowed Rahul to be on the cutting edge of all kinds of new technology, including what he’s doing now with big data and block chain. Rahul currently serves as the GM of Big Data, Data Lakes, Blockchain at Amazon Web Services and on this episode of IT Visionaries, he discusses why those technologies are the future. Key Takeaways: What the blockchain offers  Who are the stakeholders utilizing these technologies A crash course in data lakes Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.

Most people in technology agree that cyberthreats will be one of the biggest dangers we face in the coming years. In our increasingly-connected world, we’re more vulnerable than ever before and the threat of one bad actor taking out an entire power grid or critical network system is real. Retired Army Major General John Davis knows this better than most. While leading a task force responsible for directing the operations and defense of the DOD networks, the U.S. was hit with a cyberattack that infected a number of critical networks. John had to lead the charge against the malicious code, and he believes the event was a key factor in the creation of U.S. Cyber Command, which John served as a director of.  Today, John is the Chief Security officer for the Federal Sector of Palo Alto Networks, and he spends his time telling the story of that attack to illustrate the need for enhanced cybersecurity everywhere. On this episode of IT Visionaries, John discusses how he dealt with the attack, the ways cybersecurity has changed, and why the way forward is with a prevention mindset.  Key Takeaways: The security landscape today  Building transparency and clarity John’s first-hand experience stopping cyber attacks against America Advice on how to improve your security Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience Palo Alto Networks Federal Ignite 2019, a security conference for the future, brings together leading cybersecurity professionals and government officials for panels and keynotes on Next-Generation security priorities along with hands-on training, best practices and new innovations on Thursday, October 10, and Friday, October 11, in Washington, D.C. Register at ignitefed.paloaltonetworks.com. -- 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.

Sami Hassanyeh is the chief digital officer for AARP and throughout the last 18 years with the company, he’s helped lead a vast digital transformation. From the launch of an app to getting into voice technology, AARP has moved leaps and bounds forward when it comes to technology. But there are a ton of challenges when you are working with a customer population that uses every kind of channel imaginable. Whether its a laptop, desktop, mobile app, in person or talking through the voice app or using automation tools, AARP has to deliver a seamless experience and answer customer questions quickly and efficiently every time. But how? Sami explains on this episode of IT Visionaries.  Key Takeaways: How technology adds to AARP’s value proposition Launching new technology including apps and voice recognition software Creating a customer feedback loop How employee experience feeds customer experience AR, VR, automation and more emerging technology to be excited about   Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.

You know all those hacks and data breaches you read about in the newspaper? Do you understand them? It’s fine if you don’t, most people can’t figure out exactly what all that noise means. But Haiyan Song does, and it’s a good thing because as the SVP and GM of Security Markets at Splunk, she is in charge of monitoring all of that nefarious activity and protecting you and your data. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Haiyan sat down with Mission CEO Chad Grills to dig into the world of cybersecurity and how A.I. and automation can change the game. Plus, she explains how Splunk was already able to move leaps and bounds ahead of others in terms of security.    Key Takeaways: The state of the security landscape What is the future of automation? Advice for securing your operation   Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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 the Head of Data and Insights at Splunk, Archana Ganapathi is responsible for accelerating data-driven outcomes for customers. On this special episode of IT Visionaries hosted by Mission CEO Chad Grills, Archana explains what that process looks like, and how Splunk’s focus on solving customer problems has led to personal and professional success. Key Takeaways: Why join Splunk What is dark data? Should you trust data?   Salesforce and MIT recently teamed up to create a whitepaper exploring what happens when AI meets CRM. Read: AI Meets CRM: An MIT Tech Review Whitepaper This podcast is sponsored by Salesforce. Did you know Salesforce isn't just for Sales? Using Salesforce as an Employee Experience Platform helps make every employee across your organization more productive thanks to a common, mobile-first platform for getting work done faster. Find out more at salesforce.com/EmployeeExperience -- 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.