Bold stories. Future focused.

For many businesses, the dramatically different working conditions caused by the pandemic presented many challenges. But for one scrappy digital startup, it presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Listen to founder and CEO David Moricca - whose business Socialive was built to support remote work - speak about stepping up in the moment and making the transition to working-from-quarantine easier for businesses. He shares what he’s learned as a leader and how he sees the way we work changing forever.

Key Takeaways:

[1:30] When the pandemic hit, changes needed to be made quickly. While some companies had to fold completely, others got stuck in a holding pattern and still remain there. One scrappy digital start up, Socialive, was uniquely positioned to solve the problem of creating great content in an era of remote work.

[3:02] David Moricca is the CEO of Socialive, an enterprise video platform. Socialive makes it refreshingly easy to democratize video content creation across the enterprise.

[4:59] David and his team at Socialive did foresee a need for this, but the urgency of the pandemic made it important for them to build the plane as they launched. For example, they already had the capability of creating HD quality isolated feeds of people on their video, but needed to expand their thinking so they could provide any more.

[5:38] Socialive saw early adopters not just in small and mid-market businesses, but Fortune 500 companies as well.

[7:20] What was it like to be a business owner when the pandemic first hit? David talks about the unprecedented time of trepidation in society, while also knowing his company is uniquely set up to grow for a situation similar to what was happening.

[8:55] Screen fatigue is very real. David and Jo predict we will find more ways to get in rest and relaxation between online meetings and virtual work.

[09:03] Being in person is still important and special to that sticky connection between team members. David and Jo discuss how company outings may pivot to be more memorable experiences featuring shorter event times and deeper bonding.

[10:27] Virtual meetings also will shift. Instead of looking like a Zoom call, they will have shorter watch times to better capture people’s attention.

[13:31] There are pros and cons to working remotely and also remote learning for our children. While balancing work/life is tough for parents, not having a commute saves time and money. While children also are missing the interaction with their peers and traditional learning may suffer, they are gaining new digital skills that can better prepare them for the future.

[16:07] Would David change anything about how they adapted during the pandemic at Socialive? No. It taught them to be scrappy, and he is extremely proud of his team and their thoughtful way of moving forward.

Quotes:

• “There are tools out there to help and opportunities to change what was broken about old ways of working.” - Jo
• “We can source the best talent now, regardless of location and product top notch video content without expensive tools from our homes.” - David
• “There is still a big value to being in person, and you can’t change that.” - David

Continue On Your Journey:

www.pega.com

www.pega.com/podcast

More than ever, brands are conducting bigger-picture business. Besides the bottom line, the importance of leading with purpose, fulfilling their workforce, and making a real impact on the world are driving decisions. But in the hierarchy of decision-making, what does leading with a mission really mean, and are businesses willing to sacrifice to uphold it? Organization theorist Jeanne Ross decided to find out and talks about her findings in discussion with Kumud Kalia, Chief Information Officer at Guardant Health.

Key Takeaways:

[0:53] Mobile technology, AI, and the internet have dramatically increased the speed of interaction. As a result, customer expectations have skyrocketed. One fast-growing industry is BioTech, and what more urgent need for digital transformation than saving lives?

[3:04] Kumud is a High-Tech Veteran and has led IT departments at major companies such as Cylance, Inc. and Akamai Technologies. Now, as CIO of Guardant Health, he is part of a team leading the efforts to serve millions of patients around the world.

[4:31] Adoption is one of the main challenges in any new technology. At Guardant Health, there is an urgency for doctors and oncologists to adopt their offerings. Kumud talks about building trust with doctors through data and FDA approvals, so they can see that investing time and effort into learning will pay dividends as a result.

[6:51] Kumud describes the cross-functional teams at Guardant working as fast as possible to save lives. Although the people come from different departments, they each know their clearly defined mission and common objective. They can also work independently and accept accountability for setting their own goals and outlines.

[9:25] Why don’t they hire more people? It’s still hard to find the right people to join the team.

[10:11] Kumud talks about what he looks for in recruitment. There is still a war for talent, pandemic or not.

[13:51] Growing cross-functional teams that are autonomous but aligned takes management a long time to get right.

[16:01] Kumud and Jo discuss technical debt in fast-growing companies. There is a balance to getting off the ground initially, but using systems that won’t create too big of an obstacle in the future.

[18:44] People and culture can also be an aspect of technical dept. Kumud remarks that our agile teams will help us with technical debt, but it may be tough to recognize.

[20:26] Kumud and his team at Guardant are always thinking about how to have the largest social impact.

[21:41] Jeanne is optimistic that leaders will thrive in a new environment that relies on digital technology, and we should be excited about learning and opportunities ahead.

[23:12] What makes your work meaningful to you? What is the mission behind your work and does it define your company’s choices from the top executives to the janitor?

Quotes:

• “People don’t do things just because you tell them. They need to feel it. They need to believe it.” - Jo
• “For us, value is defined by the patient experience.” - Kumud
• “If you are going to hire smart people, you’ve got to let them do smart things.” - Kumud
• “The war for talent is only half the challenge of scaling a rapidly growing company.” - Jeanie
• “The fastest path is not always best for future long term scaling.” - Kumud

Continue On Your Journey:

www.pega.com

www.pega.com/podcast

Guardant Health

Every business’s best laid plans were upended in 2020, forcing new strategies to emerge and capable leaders to step up. One such leader is Banu Kannu, co-founder and head of client empowerment at Uncommon Conferences. When faced with the many shifting priorities of 2020, Kannu cemented the mission of her one-year-old business: to use participant-led gatherings to empower organizations to drive change. Listen as Kannu shares her story of disruptive thinking, her unique perspective on the conference software industry, and her challenge to all the transformers out there.

Key Takeaways:

[2:00] Banu launched Uncommon Conferences in 2019 with the goal of poking a hole in the bloated and boring conference industry. She saw this world in desperate need of disruption, and it was her goal to shake things up.

[2:24] Banu was born in Singapore and moved to Perth, where her family were first generation immigrants. Her background in business and marketing gave her first hand experience of seeing just how much the conference industry needed consolidation and a more user fun experience.

[3:57] The hierarchical way of having conferences is becoming more outdated by the year. We must recognize that almost everyone in the room is a passionate professional with worthy and shareable thoughts and opinions.

[5:07] Business school gave her the courage and confidence to start up Uncommon Conferences with co-founder Marcus Magee. They sought to provide a fertile environment for attendees to connect with each other and have fun, and for organizers to feel as though their time and money was well spent.

[9:13] Banu discusses how Uncommon Conferences was a good idea in theory when it launched, but they knew something was missing. People liked what they were doing, but they weren’t confirming contracts or deals the way they had expected. This led them to really dig into their why. They questioned not only the “why” behind Uncommon Conferences, but for participants and organizers, and even the conference itself.

[13:09] Banu identified three simple conditions to make Uncommon Conferences a must have for clients - complexity, urgency, and tension.

[16:26] The pandemic shifted the very nature of conferences and events, and Banu talks about going back to the basics for online webinars to make them engaging, rather than a snooze fest. 

[17:56] The democratization of technology has been critical. Moving away from the hierarchical structure of conferences gives us participant led events that drive sustainable change and a landscape of collaboration.

Quotes:

• “Give the power back to people.” - Banu
• “There is a pair of scissors at the registration desk and we will snip your tie off. You can’t get any work done in a suit and tie.” - Banu
• “When did we decide that we need to wait for happy hour to have fun at a conference?”  - Banu
• “If you are not your truest and most authentic self, it’s going to be very hard for you to be good at anything you do.” - Banu
• “How much better when diversity, democratization, and inclusion are the values that guide change. What changes are you driving in your world? What old thinking are you disrupting?” - Jo

Continue On Your Journey:

www.pega.com/podcast

Uncommon Conferences

Real stories from forward-thinkers in business, tech, and beyond. When business changes, it challenges us – and necessarily so. This podcast sets out to see what success looks like when innovative minds rise to new challenges and excel in the face of change. Each episode, hear true stories from the professionals, leaders, and forward-thinkers who have looked past the traditional and into the transformative as they discuss the most pressing topics in business today.

Key Takeaways:

[0:11] Working is rapidly changing, and technology is shifting the way we measure success and the way we engage with customers and employees.

[1:04] We are your hosts, Jo Richardson from Pegasystems and Jeanne Ross, former Principal Research Scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management.

[1:20] The pandemic has accelerated shifts in the workplace that many people have been predicting for years. This is a major time of innovation, yet many people are feeling fatigued and exhausted. We are optimistic that if we work hard and keep learning, things will be better. Technology helps us be more productive and ultimately can allow us a better quality of life.

[3:00] There is much interest in what the future of work will look like, and we are so thrilled to explore it in this podcast series.

[4:04] The subject matter of inclusion and diversity cannot be addressed in an abstract way, and a lot of organizations are making great strides towards full inclusivity.

[5:19] On the episodes to come, we will explore the future of work, the challenges and opportunities we see, and we will talk with some of today’s best leaders out there blazing a path to a better world.

Quotes:

• “It’s really important not to forget that today we have to be investing for the next big challenge.” - Jeanne
• “As a society, we learned how to take advantage of technology and thank goodness it was where we needed it when the pandemic struck.” - Jeanne
• “It’s a major time of innovation. It’s a time for everybody to think about what the future could look like, and what work is going to be like.” - Jo
• “Many businesses can now no longer just talk about inclusion and diversity in a way that fulfills what they think they should do in an abstract way. People are genuinely passionate and engaged on the subject now and a lot of organizations realize and are making great strides to make sure they are fully inclusive.” - Jo

Continue on your journey:

https://www.pega.com/

Real stories from forward-thinkers in business, tech, and beyond. When business changes, it challenges us – and necessarily so. This podcast sets out to see what success looks like when innovative minds rise to new challenges and excel in the face of change.