Innovation And The Digital Enterprise

Today we're sharing an insightful presentation from one of our Innovative Executives League Summit speakers, Jack King. At the November summit, Jack spoke to the audience about creating an effective innovation culture and leveraging disruptive technologies through VR and AR.Jack currently serves as the CIO for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, AAOS. He provides vision and leadership to help develop and manage both the application, data, and service portfolios to enable AAOS to be the trusted leader in advancing muscular skeletal health. Prior to AAOS, Jack served as the Chief Technology Officer of Broward Health and the Chief Technology Officer for the state of Illinois.(01:25) - Background of AAOS(02:54) - Supply and demand mismatch in innovative thought(04:09) - Innovation within an established industry(05:22) - Introverts vs extroverts(06:22) - Walks in the woods: earning trust(07:57) - Making it safe to ask questions(08:55) - Move from hierarchy to accountability(10:22) - Alignment & auton

In an industry deeply focused on the “now”— scheduling down to the minute—and dedicated to safety above all else, how can innovation with an eye to the future and taking risks fit in? In aviation, United Airlines found a solution by tasking Jorie Sax with launching and leading its first innovation lab, Airshop. In this episode, Jorie shares how an innovation lab can foreground collaboration and inspire peers throughout the company while maintaining safety standards and continuing to produce value. Jorie dives into how leading with play and exploration can naturally guide collaborators back to constraints and tensions without having to lead with those limitations. She discusses guiding others to find their spirit of curiosity, how “inclusion propels innovation”, and embracing a startup mentality in order to lead innovation. (2:07) – Airshop at United Airlines(3:42) – Leading the industry through innovation(7:48) – “Inclusion propels innovation”(10:07) – Encouraging an open mind(15:40) – Accelerator a

Deploying the most critical systems to the cloud first was a bold strategy for Fitch Group. It’s an approach Derek Ferguson, Global Head of Enterprise Architecture, and Chris Lalor, Senior Director – Technology Enablement, believe was essential to the successful transformation to the cloud for the Group’s companies and is how they continue to manage complex, new technology to date.In this episode, Derek and Chris dive into avoiding friction in the development process, enabling developers to innovate, and embracing the possibility of failure while reducing potential failure points. They also share their perspectives on service mesh, creating functionality that scales, and the exciting innovations ahead in 2023.(01:23) – Fitch Group(07:58) – Journey to the cloud(11:31) – Reducing friction for developers(15:25) – Avoiding bottlenecks(20:19) – Reducing points of failure(23:33) – Key innovation of service mesh(28:14) – Expanding the tech team(30:36) – Looking ahead in 2023Derek Ferguson is the Global Head of Enter

How do I use cloud services intentionally? What might I build out on-prem? What might my edge architecture look like? – These are just some of the questions Amanda Blevins is hearing from technology leaders these days. Finding solutions to those challenges is a big part of her current role as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Americas at VMware.In this episode, Amanda shares her thoughts on the future of cloud technology and how to tame the "cloud chaos" by creating an intentional multi-cloud strategy that makes sense for your business. She also discusses accounting for talent availability in your infrastructure planning, leveraging existing team skillsets, and hiring appropriately. Listen in to hear this and more including Amanda’s insightful perspective on aligning personal interests with the strategic goals of your company. (01:13) – VMware(05:36) – Starting a career in the dot-com bubble(09:20) – Lessons from a layoff(11:33) – Authenticity and leadership(13:18) – The move to Multi-Cl

Participating in school activities and community building has been challenging for remote and hybrid students, let alone the near impossibility of "running into a friend." Rich Alapack, founder of we all live here, witnessed this experience early in the pandemic and envisioned a program in which this was all possible: SchoolTopia.In this episode, Rich shares the mission of we all live here and their commitment to public art projects that promote inclusivity and empower students to challenge hatred in their communities. Rich discusses his experience developing an off-campus housing website in college and his current journey of bringing SchoolTopia to beta partners. He provides insight into virtual schooling and the customization available to provide an enriched experience with a focus on the social aspect of attendance, virtual safety, and integrating outside partners, like we all live here, into the software for a complete school experience. (1:18) – we all live here(3:05) – Simplicity vs. complexity(9:0

When Tommy Richardson enlisted in the United States Army at 18, he narrowed his options to operating a tank or going into computer operations and programming. In selecting the latter, he launched a lasting career in the field, has led several major companies in C-suite positions, and recently arrived as Chief Product and Technology Officer for Litmos, leading product innovation. In this episode, Tommy discusses balancing technology evolution to remain competitive, feature development to meet customer demand, and product innovation to keep ahead of the curve. He shares insight into establishing the right resource allocation for the various product development workstreams, including security, tech debt, enhancements, defects, and support. Tommy also dives into lessons learned from his time at startups and in private equity, as well as what’s ahead for Litmos this year. (01:01) – Product at Litmos(04:21) – Training in a rapidly changing world(06:29) – Feature-richness as a differentiator(08:23) – Indiv

Between confidentiality agreements, polite manners, and ego, it can be difficult to get a real story of what selling a company is like. Breaking that taboo was the inspiration for Exit Right, a book co-authored by today’s guest Mark Achler, Managing Director at MATH Venture Partners.  In this episode, Mark shares the hard-earned lessons captured in Exit Right about key actions that lead to successful exits. He makes the case for viewing these transactions not as a moment in time but as an opportunity to build relationships and value over a long time horizon. Mark emphasizes the need to deeply understand the rationale for the transaction, the value of maintaining empathy for all stakeholders, and why trust is everything.(01:36) – MATH Venture Partners(04:23) – Exit Right: how to sell your startup(10:29) – FAIR framework for successful acquisitions(18:53) – Start early & build relationships(21:03) – Mark’s empathy rules(25:40) – Upcoming debt apocalypse(28:52) – Are economic interests aligned?(31:

One consequence of success for a startup is outgrowing the very strategies that made you successful. As an experienced founder, it’s a challenge Justin McNally was prepared to tackle as Chowly grew from a seedling idea to a market leader in point-of-sale integration. At each stage of growth, Justin’s role, and sometimes title, evolved to meet the changing needs of the organization. Through the lens of his current role as Chief Innovation Officer, Justin discusses traversing the gap from startup to established company, shifting hiring emphasis from generalists to specialists, and adapting competitive strategies as a market matures. He also offers perspective on avoiding stagnation and continuing to innovate even as the risk calculations change with scale.  (01:07) - Starting Chowly (05:16) - Growing up with entrepreneurship(12:33) - Defining your moat(16:55) - How risk tolerance changes with growth (19:06) - Checking your ego at the door as a founder(21:52) - Role of the Chief Innovati

The Innovative Executives League recently held its second in-person summit with an amazing slate of thought leaders sharing their experiences and perspective on innovation and leadership. In this episode, Patrick and Shelli highlight a variety of insightful presentations from the event. If you're unfamiliar with the Innovative Executives Leagues, it's an invite-only community of innovators, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs with a growth mindset and a passion for innovation. It was founded to increase the network of innovation in the Chicagoland area and also on a national scale. If you're interested in becoming a member, send us a message at LinkedIn or visit our website at www.dragonspears.com/innovative-executives-league.(01:11) - Developer Experience: Improving Business Performance by Focusing on Your People with Deepika Duggirala, SVP, Global Technology Platforms at TransUnion(07:38) - Creating an Effective Innovation Culture with Jack T. King, CIO at AAOS(13:56) - Bridging the Employee Experience Ga

A great teacher can be the key to welcoming challenges, self-confidence, and a curious spirit. In the case of Larry Berlin, Chief Financial Officer at Freedom Fries, great teachers also inspired a lifelong commitment to mentorship, including his critical mentor role for the New Venture Challenge, an accelerator program that has launched Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo, and many more successful companies.In this episode, Larry shares details of the development process and aims of his recent venture: search engine and news aggregator Freespoke.com. He outlines how to approach analyzing product-market fit and your company’s competitive grid. Bringing lessons from his experiences mentoring an array of startups, Larry discusses how to deal with surprises and highlights the “need-to-know” aspects of a pitch.   (01:13) – Freespoke.com(05:21) – The challenges of managing a startup(11:24) – Flexibility as an entrepreneur(14:21) – Product-market fit and building your competitive grid(21:31) – Encountering surpr

Specific, problem-solving artificial intelligence is here, but when will the general, exponentially learning AI arrive in full force? Technologist Michael Housman, CTO of a stealth project at Doma, shares the anticipated arrival of AGI and his career contributing to machine learning and artificial intelligence. In this episode, Michael debunks misconceptions about AI and illuminates how malicious actors have benefitted from developments in data science (and how we can use data to catch them). Beginning his impressive career with a Ph.D. in economics, Michael shares insight into matching your strengths to the right company culture and how to know when you've achieved product-market fit.(1:08) – Economist to engineering team lead(3:02) – Singularity University(4:29) – Misconceptions about artificial intelligence(12:19) – Technology to enable general AI(14:19) – Catching bad guys with data(21:31) – Innovation and globalization(25:46) – Big companies acting like a VC fund(29:34) – Product-market fit(34:40) –

Military training can result in a staggering number of injuries, and virtual reality is ready to intervene. HAVIK Chief Operations Officer Glenn Banton is passionate about the role of virtual reality in military training and continued innovations in visual fidelity and acceleration in learning. In this episode, Glenn shares how training and simulation software marries elements of the gaming industry with the best innovations of the Department of Defense at HAVIK, which provides fully portable, self-contained VR military training solutions. He discusses leading companies through periods of growth and innovation throughout his career and how to balance capitalizing on today's technology and considering the technology of ten years from now. Glenn shares insight into building a sustainable lifestyle and embracing new technologies. (1:39) – HAVIK(3:30) – Virtual reality for the DOD(7:26) – Acceleration of learning(11:33) – Meta enterprise VR headset(17:15) – Virtual collaboration(19:55) – The importance

Adaptability is an essential skill for anyone navigating their career in a company experiencing growth. Chief Information Officer James Gray curates his teams with this priority due to REEF’s exponential growth in recent years, especially as the neighborhood-focused company saw the desire for the proximity of goods and services increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.In this episode, James Gray shares insight into the importance of articulating your needs as an employee, addressing company-employee value mismatch, and managing vertical and horizontal growth. James discusses REEF innovations, like “ghost kitchens,” and the opportunities for those interested in working with the mobile, modular, and smart company. (1:31) – What is REEF?(3:22) – Ghost kitchens(6:20) – Growing REEF(11:26) – An entrepreneurial company(15:40) – Acceleration from the COVID-19 pandemic(17:12) – Curating a team in a growth company(20:40) – Addressing company-employee mismatch(25:25) – The biggest surprise of the past year(26:48) – M

Only an exceptional innovator would look at a burgeoning career in operations and pause to examine their reputation and evaluate their goals. With the help of an executive coach, Deborah Spence-Cummings did just that and now serves as the Director of AI/ML Operations at Apple. Deborah shares how she used an engineering mindset developed at MIT and Northwestern to drive her career progression through positions in operations, planning, project management, sales, and now, artificial intelligence and machine learning. In this conversation with Pat and Shelli, Deborah also discusses her contributions to the innovative processes at Apple and NAVTEQ and how she navigated her career when opportunities did not automatically appear. (1:27) – Machine learning and AI(8:09) – Studying material science(11:38) – Journey to NAVTEQ(18:14) – Taking on different roles(21:45) – Working with an executive coach(26:51) – The engineering of sales(28:33) – Approach to leadership(30:27) – Advocates in your networkDeborah Spe

With a decorated thirty-year career in the U.S. Army behind him, General James Mukoyama’s retirement is one of passionate advocacy and aid for veterans. In the organizations he leads, Military Outreach USA and Enabled Enterprises, as well as other faith-based acts of service, General Mukoyama believes in leading by example and with care while maintaining balance in your life. In this episode, General Mukoyama highlights two critical efforts of Military Outreach USA: reducing veteran suicide rates and equipping veterans exiting homelessness with much-needed supplies. He outlines how the organization approaches its work and provides a crucial explanation of "moral injury." General Mukoyama shares advice on leadership across industries, including four essential pillars of fitness and the importance of communicating expectations.(01:46) – Military Outreach USA(18:14) – Growing up Japanese-American in Chicago(25:38) – Journey to Major General(28:00) – Surviving Agent Orange(33:03) – Methods in leadership(39:1

Imagine a career sparked from the desire to play a video game that’s out of your budget. Marc Saltzman began his career as a journalist and technologist with a promise of publishing a review. With twenty-five years in the industry, Marc shares insight into automation and electrification alongside the questions these current innovations prompt in consumers and businesses alike.In this episode, Marc highlights several moments for the industry: the misdirection of Blackberry and Motorola, Queen Elizabeth’s pioneering use of technology, and the current advances toward autonomous and electric vehicles. He provides insight into the integral role of human touch in the ever-evolving supply chain and how this growth may impact employment. (1:17) – “Geek speak to street speak”(4:52) – The fall of Blackberry and Motorola(8:16) – Queen Elizabeth’s embrace of technology(13:51) – EVs(21:11) – Automation(29:39) – Humans in the supply chain(37:57) – Becoming a technologistMarc Saltzman is a technology evangelist, journa

A fresh spotlight is on clinical research on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Katherine Vandebelt, Global Vice President of Innovation at Oracle, shares how she is innovating clinical research participation through inclusive, accessible, and human-centered practices. In this episode, Katherine highlights the challenges of recruitment and retention of clinical research participants. She reflects on the stress that arrives alongside health conditions, diagnoses, and deciding a treatment path. Katherine shares her people-oriented approach to innovation and acknowledges our aversion to change.  (1:22) – Global VP of Innovation athttps://www.oracle.com/ ( Oracle) (3:30) – Getting to know patients (5:28) – The impact of Bill C-22 (8:50) – Reflecting the actual population (11:57) – Health advocates and connection (15:04) – Communication and knowledge-building (20:36) – Deciding focus areas of innovation (24:32) – Thinking about “when” (29:34) – Addressing change Katherine Vandebelt is the Global Vice Presiden

Serving the United States does not have to be in uniform. Mike Seper, University Program Director of the https://www.nsin.mil/ (National Security Innovation Network) at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses how the problem-solving network NSIN embraces university-based innovators and entrepreneurs from all areas of study to bring their expertise into the service of our country.  In this episode, Mike reflects on the importance of an inclusive and diverse innovation process while providing a glimpse into programs available to students and university members. He highlights select focus areas—energy needs, artificial intelligence, and drone technology—and exciting partnerships with HBCUs focusing on geospatial technologies. Mike shares how NSIN and student contributions can lead to future employment and foster a generation of problem solvers.  (3:53) – https://www.nsin.mil/ (National Security Innovation Network) (6:23) – https://www.diu.mil/ (Defense Innovation Unit) (8:07) – Current focus area

Extended reality has Jack King animated about innovation and the future of technology. As Chief Information Officer at thehttps://www.aaos.org/ ( American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons), Jack sees the countless ways that augmented and virtual realities can accelerate learning and opportunities for the 39,000 members of AAOS. In this episode, Jack discusses motivation, connection, and encouraging employees to be participants in driving change. He speaks on company culture and his approach to communication, including daily huddles. While sharing his excitement over continuing technological innovations, such as haptic feedback, Jack reflects on lessons from his cross-industry career.  (2:42) - CIO at https://www.aaos.org/ (AAOS) (4:24) - The most important lesson from the C-suite (7:27) - Staying motivated (9:36) - Launching a mobile application (11:07) - Member-driven organizations (13:00) - Daily huddles (14:29) - "Take me out to the ball game" culture (15:38) - Enhanced communication strategy (19:30) -

In addition to hosting Innovation and the Digital Enterprise, Pat is also the founder of the Innovative Executives League, a group that connects visionary Chicago leaders. Earlier this year, the group held its first in-person Innovative Executives League Summit with an amazing slate of leaders sharing experiences and perspectives on innovation and leadership. Today’s episode pulls together highlights from three of the day’s presentations.  First up, Gale Wilkinson, Founder and Managing Partner of VITALIZE Venture Capital, shares insights on today's trends in angel investing and venture capital. Next, Steve Rubinow, Director of the Institute for Professional Development at DePaul University’s Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, speaks to the increasing criticality of continuous learning. Finally, Ateet Adhikari, Chief Operating Officer of ShopRunner, talks about how teams innovate without losing focus. We hope you enjoy these highlights. Be sure to check out the next Summit coming up on Novembe