Innovation And The Digital Enterprise

What’s it like to sell your company and something you’ve poured your heart into for over 7 years? On the latest episode of the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise podcast, Shelli and Pat are joined by Zack Johnson, VP of Business Development at Visier. Prior to Visier, Zack started and ran Syndio, an analytics provider based in Chicago, for over 7 years. Zack takes us through his incredible background, from founder to lecturer to advisor to pop & hip-hop artists, and breaks down how analytics are being used in a wide variety of industries. [00:25] - Introduction to Zack Johnson [01:10] - The personality traits necessary for entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship - patience, persistence and motivation [02:58] - Zack’s experience founding Syndio [06:51] - The difficulties involved transitioning a services business into a product company [10:23] - How Shelli and Zack met through the HR tech community [11:25] - Lessons learned transitioning from entrepreneurship into working for Visier [17:13] - The value of men

In this episode of the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise podcast, Randy Rivera stops by to chat with Pat & Shelli. Randy is a long time financial executive, entrepreneur and innovator in the emerging Fintech ecosystem. Randy gives his insights into the Chicago ecosystem, first as an executive then as an entrepreneur with quointec, the company he founded in 2018.  [00:33] - Who is Randy Rivera? [06:50] - The Chicago business ecosystem [13:05] - What makes a founder? [17:52] - The first five [20:05] - Developing and growing a company [27:48] - The growing fintech space [33:41] - Today’s Entrepreneurs [38:59] - What it takes to make it [43:43] - Tigers can’t change their stripes [45:25] - Give and take people [50:43] - Failure and tools to succeed https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyrivera/ (Randy Rivera) is a former financial services exec turned entrepreneur. He spent almost two decades in banking, building businesses in commercial lending and private banking. Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the exe

Hosts Shelli Nelson and Patrick Emmons are joined today by Adam Hecktman, long time civic technology executive at Microsoft. Adam shares how the role of technology in communities has evolved throughout the years. We discuss the social impact of technology, efficient government and the challenge of keeping talent in Chicago.  [03:00] - 27 years and 10,000 great days at Microsoft [03:50] - The challenge of keeping talent in Chicago [05:35] - Chicago driving the transportation logistics industry forward [08:30] - Hiring for skills not diplomas [09:45] - Mentoring upcoming entrepreneurs in the social impact space [11:50] - Experiences with demands for efficient government  [13:30] - Chicago mayoral campaigns with someone not named Daley [15:45] - 1871, Governor Pritzker and Illinois economic development [20:00] - The State of Illinois opportunity to provide equity in education [25:56] - The opportunity to live, work and grow in Chicago [29:00] - The call to action for business owners in Chicago when hiring candid

In this second installment of “Innovation and the Digital Enterprise” Shelli Nelson and Patrick Emmons welcome https://twitter.com/ChrisAnschuetz (Christian Anschuetz) to talk about his role as https://www.ul.com/ (UL)’s Chief Digital Officer, having courage in the face of uncertainty and the criticality of trust in all relationships. As CDO at https://www.ul.com/ (UL), Christian is responsible for embedding innovative technology and digital trends in operations to accelerate growth and enhance clients’ ability to predict and address regulatory and safety considerations in their value chains. He is passionate about the value trust brings to modern supply chains and the role data plays in delivering that trust.Christian is also a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the founder of the innovative nonprofit, http://www.projectrelo.org/ (Project RELO).Episode Highlights: [01:25] Christian on how being an American citizen shaped his life and experience [02:53] The winding path: “No plan survives its

On DragonSpears first installment of “Innovation and the Digital Enterprise” Shelli Nelson and Patrick Emmons welcome Roman Dumiak to talk about how technology affects collaborative efforts in anything from programming to E-sports to smart speakers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/romandumiak/ (Roman Dumiak), who currently works at a small private equity firm giving technical advice on potential clients, previously worked at Allstate Insurance for over 40 years, wearing many hats including software developer, infrastructure handler in database/network, chief architect, and held the position of Director of Technology Innovation for 6 years.Episode Highlights: [00:51] Introduction to Roman Dumiak [04:20] Scrum vs. Extreme Programming [06:06] Empathy in the recruitment process [10:09] Where the Allstate Innovation Team began and how it grew [16:19] Paired Programming as a valuable asset instead of a waste of resources [19:41] Shift in Programming as isolated work to collaboration [23:23] The approach of an Egalitari

Welcome to the Innovation and the Digital Enterprise podcast, hosted by https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickemmons/ (Patrick Emmons) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellinelson/ (Shelli Nelson). Join us as we interview successful visionaries and leaders, giving you an insight into how they drive and support innovation within their organizations. Each episode we'll focus on a different aspect of leveraging the digital revolution like… building a culture of innovation overcoming a fear of failure finding time to focus on innovative product ideas teaching and recruiting innovators So join us as we learn the secrets that successful entrepreneurs and leaders use to spark innovation amongst their teams and organizations. Subscribe by visiting our website at http://dragonspears.com/podcast (dragonspears.com/podcast) or find us at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/innovation-and-the-digital-enterprise/id1451753709?mt=2 (iTunes), https://open.spotify.com/show/3fOSh73F3sjyK7TIMFSOc1?si=uRAeLNvjQjmbnFjzWIvMlg (Spoti