Road to Reinvention 2020

Vijay Gurbaxani, Founding Director, Center for Digital Transformation

The global coronavirus pandemic accelerated digital transformation in 2020. Vijay Gurbaxani shares examples of how companies have adapted and explores themes of business continuity, survival, business model innovation, and the move to a different, still unknown, economic future, one that Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, called digitally leveraged.

Edmond Mesrobian, CTO, Nordstrom

Nordstrom wants to make its customers feel good and look great. Their mission and ambition is to be customer centric and keeping that connection with the customer is what makes Nordstrom a success. However, that become a challenge during the pandemic. In a conversation with Martin Giles, CDT Senior Industry Fellow, Edmond Mesrobian describes how Nordstrom is using digital technologies to stay customer focused and respond to changing consumer expectations and behavior.

Rakesh Tondon, CEO & Co-Founder, Le Tote

Le Tote, a 7-year-old startup clothing rental company for professional women bought venerable retailer Lord & Taylor in November 2019. Then came the pandemic. By March 2020, the rug was pulled out from under Le Tote and both companies filed Chapter 11. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, CEO Rakesh Tondon describes how the software Le Tote built, once crucial to the success of the company, remained its most valuable asset.

Melissa Lora, Board Director, Conagra Brands, KB Home and MGIC Investment
Diana McKenzie, Board Director, MetLife and Change Healthcare

Pandemic safety concerns, remote workforce, accelerating digital transformation, sustaining culture, and supporting innovation are now prominent issues on the board agenda. In a conversation with Martin Giles, CDT Senior Industry Fellow, two tech-savvy board directors, Diana McKenzie of MetLife and Change Healthcare and Melissa Lora of Conagra Brands, KB Home and MGIC Investment, discuss how their boards are addressing these issues.

Greg Plante, Principal, R&D Advisory and Digital Transformation, IQVIA
Ben Taylor, CEO, LedgerDomain

IQVIA is the largest contract research organization in the world running hundreds of clinical trials for large pharmaceutical companies. When the pandemic hit, IQVIA was able to quickly apply its digital solution to maintain business continuity, initially focusing on monitoring of patients unable to get to trial sites due to lockdowns. IQVIA has also been working with LedgerDomain, a blockchain-based Communal Trust Platform, to ensure the provenance of vaccines. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, Greg Plante, Principal, R&D Advisory and Digital Transformation, and Ben Taylor, CEO of LedgerDomain, discuss the transformation of clinical trials.

Cody Sanford, EVP & CIO, T-Mobile

T-Mobile had just merged with Sprint when the pandemic hit and online connectivity became more important than ever. In a conversation with Martin Giles, CDT Senior Industry Fellow, Cody Sanford, EVP and CIO, shares how they are managing through the challenges of business volatility, customer connectivity, and the changes in consumer behavior that will persist beyond the end of the pandemic.

Linda Jojo, EVP Technology & CDO, United Airlines

Hit with an unprecedented decline in demand, United is going to where the customers are. Coming up with new app offerings, pricing, and flexible tickets for the leisure traveler, United is catering to this customer segment to survive. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, Linda Jojo, EVP Technology and CDO, describes how United is using software to accelerate and improve their airline faster than before with the intent to come out stronger, better, and more customer friendly in the end.

Jim Walsh, CTO, GlobalLogic

Michael Zawalsky, Principal, CPP Investments

Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a fund managing more than C$450 billion, adopts a long-term perspective in its investment strategy. CPPIB explicitly accounts for the potential of digital disruption in evaluating its acquisition targets and emphasizes digital transformation in its portfolio companies. The company has undertaken several initiatives to transform from a deal-execution company to a software company by putting technology and data at the core of everything they do. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, Michael Zawalsky, Principal, CPPIB and Jim Walsh, CTO of GlobalLogic, discuss how they are partnering to achieve CPPIB’s vision.

Kyle Quinn, SVP & CTO, PACCAR
Sterling Anderson, Co-Founder & CPO, Aurora

The self-driving challenges for a semi-truck are more complex than for cars, yet autonomous trucks are more likely to hit the market first.  In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, Kyle Quinn, SVP & CTO at PACCAR, and Sterling Anderson, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Aurora, discuss how they are working through these challenges and what it will take to get on the road.

Joe DeSimone, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, Carbon

Carbon is the world’s leading digital manufacturing platform making custom products for companies as diverse as Adidas and Ford, at scale. In a discussion with Martin Giles, CDT Senior Industry Fellow, Joe De Simone, Co-founder and Board Chair, shares how the company pivoted their software-driven chemistry from making helmets, running shoe soles, and car parts to making face shields and nasal swabs during the pandemic, extending their core competence into new markets on the frontline.

Lisa Hammitt, Board Director, Clear Channel and Glassbox

All companies must address issues of personal data and privacy, cybersecurity, responsible and ethical use of AI, and develop the appropriate governance mechanisms. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, Lisa Hammitt, now EVP of AI at Davidson Technologies and former Global Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Data at VISA, shares her perspective on how companies should navigate this challenging terrain.

Chet Kapoor, Chairman & CEO, DataStax

Data is the lifeblood of both enterprises and business ecosystems. Leading data-driven organizations requires different capabilities than traditional organizations. In a conversation with Vijay Gurbaxani, DataStax CEO Chet Kapoor shares his thoughts about applying key principles of leadership and a strategic approach to technology to inspire change, promote growth, and make a difference.

Martin Giles, CDT Senior Industry Fellow & Senior Editor, CIO Network, Forbes
Vijay Gurbaxani, Founding Director, Center for Digital Transformation