CIO Exchange Podcast

This is part of an ongoing series entitled “Customer Zero” where we talk with the member of the VMware IT leadership team who are the first to use the products that our engineering teams produce. Through conversations with IT and engineering, we see how they are leveraging the technology to solve the same hard problems our customers are challenged with. From Multi-cloud complexity and app modernization to the needs of the new workforce, we hear how they are changing IT and the business.

In this episode, we are joined by VMware’s Sr. Director IT, Digital Customer Experience Engineering, Pankaj Purwar and Senior Director - IT Application Operations, Varinder Kumar as they discuss their journey of modernizing the mission-critical VMware Customer Connect application. During our conversation, they share their experience of transitioning the platform from a monolithic structure to a multi-cloud environment using microservices, and also discuss tackling performance and scalability challenges. They delve into creating a cloud-agnostic solution in a multi-cloud setting using Tanzu tools and the collaborative efforts that made it possible. They'll both touch on unexpected hurdles they encountered along the way and how they managed to keep business disruption to a minimum and downtime to zero.

Links: 
Pankaj Purwar on LinkedIn
Varinder Kumar on LinkedIn

Many of the challenges facing the healthcare industry became common knowledge throughout the pandemic. How has industry thinking shifted with the emergence of new technologies and solutions? How can we think about tackling these huge issues at this point? Peter Shen, Head of Digital Health - North America at Siemens Healthineers, joins the podcast to discuss how emerging technologies, including AI and LLMs, can help move the needle in democratizing healthcare. He and Yadin dive into the challenges clinicians face in utilizing vast amounts of clinical data, as well as using AI as a companion to physicians and a resource to patients.

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“So, tremendous amount of data that's being generated. The rate that's being generated doesn't even compare to the much slower growth rate of new clinicians, new doctors that are coming into health care. So as you can imagine, there's this gap that's growing…The clinician just doesn't have time to consume all this patient data that's being generated.”

“Unfortunately patients have heart attacks in all parts of the country, rural, or in the big city or whatnot. But now being able to enable the patient to go to their local hospital, get the same level of care that they could get if they went to a larger institution because you have the ability to have these shorthanded resources, now leverage technologies like remote, scanning capabilities to be able to take care of the patient from afar.”

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Timestamps:

(01:14) The unique challenges in healthcare right now 

(02:37) The trend towards burn-out and “re-careering”

(04:14) The increase in healthcare data and limited capacity to utilize it 

(07:58) How does Siemens approach such big problems? 

(09:26) Can we leverage technologies to keep doctors informed on new clinical information? 

(10:33) Ways to remove friction in the healthcare industry 

(12:18) Unifying disparate clinical data

(13:13) Hurdles in unifying data

(15:41) Using AI to move the needle  

(17:43) AI as as a companion for the clinician 

(18:39) Peter’s hope for the impact of these technologies 

(19:34) The possibilities of large language models for the patient 

(22:05) The ability to scale large language models 

(25:25) Distribution of AI in healthcare 

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Peter Shen on LinkedIn

CIO Exchange on Twitter

Yadin Porter de León on Twitter

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On Apple Podcast

For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to 

https://www.vmware.com/cio

How does cybersecurity impact the global economy and geopolitical landscape? How is AI changing the game? Yadin sits down with renowned cybersecurity strategist, advisor and geopolitics thought leader Dmitri Alperovitch to discuss this in depth. They dive into the current geopolitical landscape and how CIOs should be thinking about global macro trends as they build their security strategy. Dmitri also shares his thoughts on the ransomware insurance industry and predictions for future actions from China.

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"So those are the types of things that you want to be thinking about as an organization is: What are you not practicing? What disaster recovery scenarios? It's great that you have backups, but have you ever actually tried to recover everything?...And what other resiliency mechanisms do you have inside your network that may not be cyber- or even technology-related, that would allow you to operate your business?"

"One of the things that everyone should be thinking about is how geopolitical events, like frankly the Russian invasion of Ukraine and similar events in the future, can affect your business and your operations. One of the things that companies had to figure out once Russia invaded Ukraine is how to pull out of the country in a responsible fashion. How, if they couldn't pull out completely, to isolate the operations  in country from being able to impact operations globally, in case the Russian government decides to do nefarious things on your network or pressure your local employees to do something. And that's something that I think everyone should be paying attention to when it comes to China." 

Time stamps:

(01:00) The relationship between cybersecurity and economic prosperity 

(02:42) How rapidly is the ransomware issue growing? 

(04:37) Hidden costs of sacrificing cybersecurity for competitive advantage 

(07:44) Is the insurance industry influencing how companies think about cybersecurity? 

(08:41) Is AI changing company behavior regarding cybersecurity?

(12:55) How AI impacts the gap between defense and offense 

(16:51) How has cybersecurity become a tool in geopolitics? 

(19:57) Global ripple effects of infrastructure being hacked

(21:59) How should CIOs think about security within these macro trends? 

(36:22) What CIOs should be discussing with the board and executive staff

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Dmitri Alperovitch on LinkedIn

CIO Exchange on Twitter

Yadin Porter de León on Twitter

[Subscribe to the Podcast] 
On Apple Podcast
For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to https://www.vmware.com/cio

How should CIOs be thinking about implementing generative AI? What does it mean to be a sustainable business? What are offices for? In this episode, host Yadin Porter de León  sits down with Tim Crawford, CIO Strategic Advisor at AVOA, to discuss these questions in depth. They dive into the conversations that Tim is having with CIOs about generative AI and the nuances surrounding the debates around work-from-home.

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“We've been challenged for data scientists within our organization. Generative AI just takes that to the next level. And so the problem is, we don't even have the resources internally to be able to get our arms around it.”

“And that's part of what is scaring IT executives today is that they got burned on cloud. And now we're talking about generative AI. And now, unfortunately, we're talking more about data and the risks just went up. So you have to be really careful about how you go down this. I realize the pressures there. I realize there's a lot of demand to try and adopt it and get ahead of your competition. But at the same time, if you don't think about the risks that go with it and have a healthy balance between benefit and risk, you're just playing with fire.”

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Time stamps:

(02:40) What are tech leaders saying about AI?

(06:22) The need for increased understanding so we can trust AI tools 

(07:01) Generative AI increases the demand for data scientists 

(11:58) How the EU is thinking about generative AI

(14:47) Lessons we can learn from implementing cloud technologies 

(17:01) AI as augmentation instead of replacement 

(19:02) The need for a holistic conversation 

(20:16) Running a sustainable business, beyond just ESG

(25:21) The overuse of the “Black Swan” concept 

(27:43) How to plan for risks to build a sustainable business

(32:54) The need for an IT leader who is capable of CEO-level conversations 

(34:55) What is the office for? 

(40:42) The new complications of in-office work 

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Tim Crawford on LinkedIn

CIO Exchange on Twitter

Yadin Porter de León on Twitter

Relevant Past Episodes: 

Data Democratization and the “Intelligence Era” with Trevor Schulze, CIO of Alteryx 

Generative AI: What CIOs Need to Know – with Paul Roetzer, CEO of Marketing AI Institute

[Subscribe to the Podcast] 

On Apple Podcast

For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to 

https://www.vmware.com/cio

Striking the balance between data access and security has always been a nuanced challenge for tech leaders, long before the rise of generative AI. But now, how does AI play into the need for data literacy and data democratization? In this episode, Yadin sits down with  Trevor Schulze, the CIO of Alteryx, to discuss the importance of data democratization amidst the “intelligence era”. They discuss creating data-literate teams, empowering your employees with data and the value of speed to insight.

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“People talk about a data-driven culture and what does that mean? It means that you need to encourage and reward people to ask and seek questions through data.”

“We always paid attention to data, right? That's our job. But really we have to refresh and rethink and reimagine what we have to do in order to enable these intelligence systems to really take advantage of advanced capabilities.”

“You need a literate group of people in your company who are going to have the ability to take advantage of these new AI enabled systems in this era of intelligence.”

Time stamps:

(00:00) Upskilling IT teams with data literacy 

(01:50) How Trevor is enabling teams amidst AI

(03:56) What really is data literacy? 

(05:04) The importance of data-driven conversations 

(8:44) Governance, regulation, compliance, and managing risk 

(11:00) The benefits of increased data access

(13:11) Tackling the mismatch between data supply and demand

(17:53) Balancing data access and cybersecurity / Fintech 

(24:22) Speed to insight and how it can help you in economically challenging times

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Trevor Schulze on LinkedIn

CIO Exchange on Twitter
Yadin Porter de León on Twitter

[Subscribe to the Podcast] 
On Apple Podcast
For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to https://www.vmware.com/cio

While it is not a new issue, managing talent continues to be an important challenge for technology leaders. Abhimanyu Saxena is the Co-Founder of Scaler, an online transformative upskilling platform for working tech professionals. In this episode, Abhimanyu and Yadin dive into retaining, upskilling and reskilling talent, discussing best practices that will help both employers and employees navigate this changing landscape. 

They touch on everything from standard approaches, to the major shifts in the marketplace and talent requirements presented by emerging AI technology.

“For a software engineering professional or a data scientist, most important is learning to learn. That is much more important than what is the framework or technology that you might know today, because whatever you know is going to get outdated in few years.” 

“The most important part of any upskilling effort is that, is this active learning versus passive learning? Generally, passive learning doesn't lead to much of an impact.”

“Generally, the best performers, the most impactful employees of the company, are the people who have seen all the facades, all the faces of the product. And now they have that intuition [about] what really adds value to your customers.”

“Generative AI, ChatGPT, is exceptionally powerful. But, despite that, there will be a time where it hits it's  limit and then you have to resort back to human intuition and problem solving and move ahead. So you cannot be totally reliant on that. It's very similar to how a calculator is a powerful tool for a mathematician, but a mathematician's intellect is not in a calculator. That stays with the mathematician."

(01:00) Thoughts on the need for IT talent

(02:49) What employers look for in employees

(04:25) The importance of employing problem-solvers

(07:50) Examples of how that looks in organizations

(11:51) Ways to approach upskilling and reskilling

(13:35) The benefits of retaining and moving talent 

(20:47) How Scaler upskills and reskills

(22:56) The issues with a one-size fits all approach

(26:15) How has Scaler’s approach evolved?

(28:37) How are technology leaders are talking about generative AI?

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Abhimanyu Saxena on LinkedIn

CIO Exchange on Twitter

Yadin Porter de León on Twitter

[Subscribe to the Podcast] 
On Apple Podcast
For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to https://www.vmware.com/cio

This is part of an ongoing series entitled “Customer Zero” where we talk with the member of the VMware IT leadership team who are the first to use the products that our engineering teams produce. Through conversations with IT and engineering, we see how they are leveraging the technology to solve the same hard problems our customers are challenged with. From Multi-cloud complexity and app modernization to the needs of the new workforce, we hear how they are changing IT and the business. 

In this episode, I have a conversation with VMware’s VP of Network Services and VMware on VMware John Drummond and VP IT/CTO Operations Jerry Ibrahim as they talk about cloud transformation and the move to multi-cloud—what is it to be cloud smart what it means for VMware teams.

Generative AI is one of the most exciting and disruptive technologies to emerge in recent years. It has the potential to revolutionize the way we live and work, and it is already having a major impact on many industries. With the rapid advancement of Generative AI technology, businesses are scrambling to keep up and adapt to the new reality.

As a technology leader, it's critical to understand the implications of generative AI and how it can be harnessed to gain a competitive edge. 

In this episode, we hear from Paul Roetzer, CEO and founder of the AI Marketing Institute. For the last decade, he has been immersed in the emerging capabilities of artificial intelligence and how it can be leveraged to help enterprise companies. He has watched closely as AL/ML has evolved into the large learning models (or LLMs) that have astonished the world with their ability to create, analyze and perform tasks that rival the capabilities of many knowledge workers.

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“What I always tell people is, AI's not gonna replace you. But people who use AI will replace people who don't. Basically in any career path, any knowledge work, any creative path. I do think, though, that the disruption to these professions is gonna be probably more significant in the near term than we expect.”

“The best advice is, you just have to embrace the fact that the technology is going to continue to advance in a really, really rapid way. And you have to have the resources internally. Maybe it's an AI council, maybe it's a couple of people that are focused on this emerging area. You've gotta stay at the forefront of it and see around the corners because the lead time to know what's coming next is gonna keep getting shorter. Right now, we could probably reasonably project what life looks like 12 months from now. Anything beyond that is just a fool's errand.”

“The blessing of ChatGPT in my world is it woke people up to the power of AI in good ways and in bad. Now people can envision the downsides as well. So now we can actually get to the important conversations around ethics and responsible application of AI and impact on workforces and things like that.”

“I feel like we need more conversation around AI as a leverage point to create better working environments, better jobs, and more fulfilling lives for people, because otherwise I think it's just for nothing. Like, it's just another productivity gain and a missed opportunity to improve people's lives.”

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02:23 The rapid growth of AI

05:45 Staying up to date on emerging tech

07:01 Who’s going to do the innovating?

09:20 How to organize your AI team

011:39 Why education is so important

13:53 How ChatGPT works

14:40 What’s terrifying, what’s exciting?

16:37 How language models work

19:02 Will AI replace workers?

21:56 Embrace technology’s quick growth

23:22 Your whole organization should understand AI

27:58 How to build an intelligent company

31:44 The gifts ChatGPT brings

33:43 The future of AI

36:17 Pitching AI to the board

37:59 How to get involved

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Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulroetzer/

CIO Exchange on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmwcioexchange
Yadin Porter de León on Twitter: https://twitter.com/porterdeleon 

[Subscribe to the Podcast] 
On Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cio-exchange-podcast/id1498290907 
For more podcasts, video and in-depth research go to https://www.vmware.com/cio

This is part of an ongoing series entitled “Customer Zero” where we talk with the member of the VMware IT leadership team who are the first to use the products that our engineering teams produce. Through conversations with IT and engineering, we see how they are leveraging the technology to solve the same hard problems our customers are challenged with. From Multi-cloud complexity and app modernization to the needs of the new workforce, we hear how they are changing IT and the business. 

In this episode, we are joined by VMware’s VP IT Colleague Experience Pam Cocca and Head of Enterprise Data Office Travis Icard as they discuss user experience and how human connections, and the use of data, can influence personal and business goals. We explore how they are able to scale their efforts to provide teams with better collaboration tools and better digital experiences in order to improve things like productivity and security posture.

As we’ve known for some time, top developer talent is scarce and continues to see a rise in demand. As a result, tech leaders are increasingly focused on developer productivity and the developer experience, looking for strategies to improve both. One potential solution is platform engineering. 

Rob Hirschfeld is the CEO and Founder of RackN, a leader in physical and hybrid DevOps software. He has been in the cloud and infrastructure space for 20 years and has executive experience at both start-ups and big companies. He has a background in Scale Computing, Mechanical and Systems Engineering, and is an advocate for applying lean and agile processes to software delivery. 

In this episode, Rob dives into platform engineering, explaining how it can support developers and operations teams, improve productivity and enhance the developer experience. He stresses the importance of collaboration between internal teams and thinking critically about how to define productivity. He also outlines the challenges that he is seeing in automation reliability and automation half-life.

Key Quotes:

“What’s happening is, it's not that hard to write code. It's getting even easier with some of the new things that we have, but it's incredibly hard to take that code on a journey all the way into production and to keep it running in production. And that understanding, learning all those pieces having to do with all the work that has to go into building that infrastructure and making that work, that ends up being a tremendous hurdle for developers.”

“If you're looking at productivity as, I delivered a whole bunch of code. It doesn't make any difference. What you actually need to be doing is delivering the right code at the right time.”

“The way I see platform engineering is, it's a service-oriented operations infrastructure that consolidates the operations experiences across multiple disparate development teams. There's people out there who talk about it being an internal product. If you get too focused on a product definition of platform engineering, you miss what we're really doing, which is creating a service oriented approach. Meaning, it's an operations team that is looking at the developers as customers and figuring out how to better serve those internal teams as a shared resource.”

“What we see everywhere in the industry is there is a reliability crisis in automation. Meaning most people don't believe their automation is very reliable….They’re basing it on, when you run your automation, how often does it work? What we find is that a lot of people have under 80 percent automation success.”

1:00 Development team’s biggest challenges

2:46 Journey from ideation to production

4:46 Impact of improving the developer experience 

11:48 Definition of platform engineering 

13:06 Platform engineering case studies

18:51 Why developers and operations teams need to collaborate 

 24:30 How platform engineering impacts security

27:17 Importance of transparency and stakeholder buy-in

31:59 Automation reliability problems

35:00 Will generative AI improve automation?