The Enterprise Software Innovators Podcast: Season One Recap

With the release of episode seven on May 11, season one of Enterprise Software Innovators (ESI) has come to a close. Everyone on the ESI team would like to thank the listeners and guests for an incredible first season.

Season one was full of exciting stories of CIOs and CTOs deploying game-changing innovations at scale within their enterprise. While the ESI team is hard at work on season two, below is a recap of some season one highlights.

If you’re interested in checking out past content, including the ESI blog, head over to www.enterprisesoftware.blog.

In Curiosity & Disruption in the Entertainment Industry, Michael Keithley, CIO of United Talent Agency (UTA), recalled his long and storied career as one of consistent advocacy for next-generation technology. From temporarily getting fired for installing an email system to helping UTA understand the importance of agile methodology, Michael has been at the vanguard of innovation everywhere he’s been.

In Inside the Digital Transformation of CarMax, Shamim Mohammad, CITO of CarMax, described how CarMax purposefully disrupted itself to usher in the digital age and deconstructed a previously successful brick-and-mortar business to best adapt to changing market conditions. CarMax is now at the forefront of the digital revolution and its AI-powered car matching technology is changing the way customers buy and sell used vehicles.

In Taking Risks to Become Failure Proof at Princeton University, Jay Dominick, CIO of Princeton University, walked the audience through the ways in which the university had to leverage technology during the onset of COVID to keep the institution afloat. Elsewhere in the episode, Jay described the benefits of partnerships with startup companies and what it means to become “failure-proof.”

In Decentralizing Data Access at Align Technologies, Sreelakshmi Kolli, CDO of Align Technologies, shared how her company is one of the biggest users of 3D printing to manufacture their incredibly popular orthodontic aligner Invisalign. She also described how decentralizing data access at Align has had a measurable impact on the entire organization.

In The Future of Grocery at Albertsons Companies, Anuj Dhanda, CIO of Albertsons Companies, described how Albertsons pivoted in real time to meet the needs of a changing consumer landscape during the first several months of COVID. He also shared how the breakthrough technologies of machine learning are making their way into the grocery industry.

In Pushing the Envelope Without Breaking Things, Ravi Malick, Global CIO at Box, shared highlights from his extensive and varied career. Ravi walked listeners through how CIOs can be effective change agents within their organizations via partnerships with startups and how the best enterprise companies often mirror a startup ethos and methodology.

In Being a Customer-Facing CIO, Diana McKenzie, former CIO of Workday, shared her perspective on the importance of what it means to be a customer-facing CIO. Since Diana is now a board member of many companies, she’s seeing innovations from the other side of the boardroom and shared what she views as the most exciting developments happening right now in biotech.

Thanks again for listening to season one of Enterprise Software Innovators. Season two is currently being produced and further updates will be made closer to the release date. Evan and Saam are looking forward to chatting with more technology leaders who share their wisdom and perspective on how they’re pushing forward on innovations in the enterprise.

Subscribe to Enterprise Software Innovators on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and check out www.enterprisesoftware.blog for more information.