Truth Be Known

On this episode, Lauren is joined by the General Manager and Worldwide Partner Co-Sell of Microsoft Alyssa Fitzpatrick to discuss how culture shift makes an impact on decision making and how to ensure that a culture shift will be successful.

3 Takeaways:

• Making any type of transition within a major organization or company is always stressful and comes with lots of challenges. COVID has made those challenges even more difficult, but with the right plan of action, they can be overcome.
• Culture shifts are something that many companies are afraid to do because of the risk involved, but despite the risk, the reward can be far superior.
• “If you build it they will come.” Alyssa used that model in a previous job that has carried over to her current role with Microsoft. As simple as this might sound, Alyssa knows that in order for people to follow your lead, you need to have a plan and build something so that others can follow your lead.

Key Quotes:

“It takes a while to get that culture shift, but once you start to shift culture, that's when you know your change is taking hold and, and that's where we're at right now. We're not done, we still have a long way to go. And we're learning along this entire journey.”

“If you want to put a yellow sticky on your computer, it should say, don't assume. Everyone needs to have that reminder because we do: We assume someone already knows, we assume they're already in our camp or they assume they're going to get the information from someone else. We assume that a topic is closed, done, and dusted. It's not, let's make sure, you know, make sure you finish that sentence. Get to that punctuation point.”

Bio:

Alyssa and her team focus on accelerating Microsoft’s business through partner sales engagement across all customer and industry segments. She manages the corporate strategy and worldwide field teams that are responsible for local, regional, and global partner sales. In this role, Alyssa maintains focus on all aspects of the customer engagement process and sales execution, which includes the sales model design, channel strategy, partner selection, partner co-selling motions, revenue attainment, and field incentives and readiness. With more than 25 years of leadership experience, Alyssa has led significant business transformation efforts, driving organizational changes, commerce initiatives, and cloud adoption across the global partner ecosystem.

Episode Description:

Executive Producer Ben Wilson sits down with Lauren to discuss her predictions for 2021, including the evolving interface between digital and brick and mortar, how to connect when in-person meetings aren’t possible, the future of data  and what some of her personal predictions will be in what we all hope will be a better year than 2020.

3 Takeaways:

• Data trust will become increasingly important in 2021. It will be vital for organizations to know where their data is coming from, how much they can trust it,  and what systemic errors might be present in their data sources.
• Brick and mortar retail isn’t going to return to the pre-pandemic way of doing business. A new hybrid model is emerging that will likely continue going forward. 
• Digital events are going to be with us for a while - if they are done the right way. Digital events that can offer meaningful, high-quality interaction or access to valuable people and information will still be valuable, even as in-person conferences make a comeback.

Key Quotes:

“This was the forcing function for every single business to lean into digital. I even think about, all of the restaurants and there are so many restaurants that are impacted by this. I was speaking with a friend about this who had worked for software companies specifically for restaurants, and what they had mentioned to me was sales are up and I went, how are sales up? I thought the restaurant industry has taken such a big hit, and it was well now all of these restaurants that never really had to care about digital, they didn't really have to think that much about takeout or touchless ordering. That has to happen.”

“It's really similar on the marketing side, both marketing professionals and IT professionals have had to adapt more quickly this year than probably any other profession. And it's this idea of don't rely on your laurels, adapt pivot as fast as possible for marketers, especially enterprise marketers who really heavily relied on in-person events, field marketing, that one-to-one interaction that's gone, but I don't know a single marketer who had a quota reduction because this year we all had to keep driving demand.”

“I want to say in 2021, it'll be a little bit lighter, it'll all be easy. It hasn't happened yet in 2021. Maybe it will, but it's just going to keep going, and the added complexity that'll happen in 2021 is optimistically the second half of the year we'll be able to see each other in person again. So now IT professionals and marketers now have to go, ‘we knew the old world we pivoted and made this new fully remote world work. Okay. Now you have to make both work and they have to work together.’”

Bio:

Lauren Vaccarello is an award-winning marketing executive with a track record of accelerating revenue growth for the fastest growing SaaS companies in Silicon Valley. With a strong background in demand generation, she excels at building scalable integrated campaigns that leverage cutting edge marketing techniques. Although performance is at the core of who she is as a marketer, she believes businesses need to tell compelling stories and build a brand if they want to own a category.

Lauren also co-authored the highly-regarded books “The Retargeting Playbook” and “Complete B2B Online Marketing.” She has held executive leadership roles at Box, at AdRoll, and at Salesforce. She was a member of the Google Tech Advisory Council and is a popular speaker at industry events such as South by Southwest, ClickZ Live, eMetrics, and the Online Marketing Summit. In 2014, Lauren was honored by the San Francisco Business Times and named to their list of “Influential Women in Business.”

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

When much of the internet is hosted on your servers, the decisions you make really matter. On this episode, Greg Khairallah, Director of Analytics at Amazon Web Services, explains how he thinks about expanding access, maintaining privacy, and the future of the cloud.

3 Takeaways:

• Cost is still a barrier for many people when it comes to building and growing internet technology. Greg and his team at AWS have been working hard to expand accessibility when it comes to the cloud for that reason.
• Innovation should be the center of your decision-making. That often means pushing things forward in unexpected ways.
• Data governance and data privacy can no longer be ignored or deprioritized but must be taken into consideration by technology leaders.

Key Quotes:

“Really, what I saw the value in, what attracted me the most, was not just cost savings moving off on-premise to get rid of out of the data center business, though there is some valid economic value to that. But what I saw is that there's just a fundamental way that we could make innovation to be the center of our data decision-making.”

“I've had the honor of meeting customers, not just in North America, but in India and China, in Korea, Australia. And the common patterns around getting value from data and being able to serve their customers better. That is a commonality, regardless of geography or industry."

“I think part of this is this drive to really bring up the standards of interaction across multiple channels, and of course, this is where, data becomes at the heart of it all and the privacy of that data and how the data is used, become top of mind around data governance that we've been working hard at AWS to make that easier for customers of any size to be able to adapt to this new world."

Bio:

Greg leads the AWS (Amazon Web Services) global business development team for database and analytics. His background includes over 15 years’ experience at Intel, Oracle, and Business Objects (now SAP). A former officer in the US Army, Greg holds a master’s degree in Information System Management from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

Everyone is dealing with COVID-19 differently, but one thing most of us have in common is that we are using technology at home a lot more. In this episode, Wendy Pfeiffer, CIO of Nutanix, discusses how we are using technology to cope with the world we are living in and find a “new normal.”

3 Takeaways:

• In this “work from home” world we are living in, we need technology more than ever and we need it to be the intermediary and sometimes even front and center.
• It’s important to adjust to your surroundings. Being too programmed or accustomed to routine can interfere with our ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• It’s important to keep your head up and find moments of levity and hope every day, even in difficult circumstances.

Key Quotes:

• “The future has always been unknown. We know that but I think the challenge is that we've already experienced a shift in our very way of being, whether that's as companies or as leaders. Our way of being is different. For a while, we were people who work in offices who were temporarily working remotely. We're not anymore. Now, we are people who work.”
• “You just have to keep showing up every day and eventually they have to give it to you. Don't let anything stop you from showing up every day. Don't stop. Don't quit. Don't get discouraged. Keep showing up every day. Eventually, they have to give it to you.”

Links:

• Enterprise Cloud Index
• A Shining Image (book)
• Wendy's Twitter
• Wendy's LinkedIn

Bio:

As the CIO of Nutanix, Wendy's focus on enterprise adoption of modern technologies fuels the company's global mission. Wendy also serves on the boards of Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) and SADA Systems. A consumer tech enthusiast, Wendy has led technology and operational functions for Robert Half, GoPro, Yahoo! and Cisco. Wendy's recent accolades include being named one of Silicon Republic's Tech Titans, ORBiE Bay Area Enterprise CIO of the Year, the Fisher Center for Data Analytics' CIO of the Year, and one of HMG's Top Technology Executives. She was also ranked first on Enterprise Management 360's list of Top 10 Tech CIO's, named one of Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Influence and listed as one of the National Diversity Council's Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology. 

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

Everyone’s lives are changing because of COVID-19 but for women that are pregnant, they have a higher risk of getting sick or having a problem with their pregnancy if they were to test positive for the virus. Luckily for them, Ann Holder and her team at Odonata are working hard to make sure they remain safe.

3 Takeaways:

• Fetal monitoring is something that we are all still learning about but Ann and her team work every day to bring to the market new technology for non-invasive fetal monitoring.
• The US is lacking when it comes to the success and survival rate of C-Sections and it’s important for Ann and her company to work with doctors to make sure that we correct the mistakes that are being made to ensure the safety of women.
• Telehealth is not just taking over the doctor visit world for a cough or a runny nose, but women who are pregnant, even as much as 29 weeks are not actually seeing doctors in person and it’s problem, but how we have to find a way to make sure that the baby and mother are safe and healthy.

Key Quotes:

“I was talking to an OBGYN that was telling me that the number of non-stress tests for high-risk patients has gone down considerably but, the number of stillbirths has gone up considerably with COVID. So we had to make a pretty significant change in our strategy.”

“I'm really happy with what I'm doing. It's been incredibly fulfilling and I talked to a lot of people that are really weighing the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur or a first-time CEO. My advice is just to have confidence in taking a risk, because quite honestly if you don't, you're always going to second guess yourself.”

Bio:

Ann Holder is a Medical Device Executive with a rich background in sales, marketing, finance, and operations.  Ann began her career in the US Army after graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point. In healthcare, Ann worked for Medtronic in a variety of roles in sales, finance, and business development and was an executive at a start-up. Most recently she has been helping companies commercialize in the U.S. while focused on developing fetal monitoring technology with the Mayo Clinic. Prior to Ann's career in healthcare, Ann worked in the consumer goods industry and in telecommunications for international companies in engineering and operations in the areas of manufacturing, supply chain, and logistics. 

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

3 Takeaways:

• It’s not where you start, but where you finish. If you are someone that is brought into a company to do a job, don’t approach day 1 as if you’ve been there for years. It’s important to start any venture small and grow from there.
• You need to adapt to your surroundings. With everything that is on in the world with COVID, companies like AutoZone needed to change the way they attracted customers to go to their stores and that is part of what Jason and his team need to figure out on a daily basis. 
• Having a plan is one of the most important things when it comes to working with a major company. It’s easy to say you can’t do something, but if you head into every job or every project with a plan and a template it will help you be able to handle whatever gets thrown your way.

Key Quotes:

“ In my case, it has been showing how much project work we can do versus how much support work we have to do. It's easy to drift into, “we can't do that now. We don't have the bandwidth, we can't do this because we don't have enough people to support it”, but we spend a lot of time designing and architecting and we have developed a series of, I call them recipes. You could call them templates, but it's reusable pieces of functionality that have become tried and tested, they're like building blocks.”

“I always tell people that you need to find something in it that you can relate to. If you're a programmer if you're a data analyst or data scientist do something that you actually would want to use.”

Bio:

Since 2018 Jason has been the I.T. Manager, Business Intelligence/Data Management at AutoZone. Prior to that, he spent time as a senior consultant with IBM and American home Shield. Jason graduated from Rhodes College in 1994.

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at

 Talend.com

.

3 Takeaways:

• Great performance requires aggressive performance management. Moving people out of positions where they can’t perform well is ultimately a good thing for everyone involved.
• In today's digital environment, more often than not, the most data-driven wins.
• It’s important to go after something that you’re passionate about. No amount of data or great decision-making can substitute for passion.

Key Quotes:

“So the conundrum that I faced was like, I'm in my dream job as the CMO of Salesforce, but yet I have this desire to start another company, and I have a passion in another area. So, in a nutshell, that was the decision that I was staring down in 2012.”

“Option three was to accelerate into the chaos. Do the opposite of what felt totally normal, which was, put your foot on the gas and put the pedal to the floor because maybe this is an accelerant for your business. Like it is for zoom. Like it is for Slack. Maybe this is an accelerant for your business.”

“You just have to be super driven. You have to be super excited about what you're working on. Even in the lows of the lows, you have to be super excited about it. It's for that reason, it's not for, for everybody, but stick with it. That's my advice.”

Bio:

Kraig is an entrepreneur, product, and marketing executive with a track record of success in leading high growth internet/software companies. Founder of Qualified.com, Founder of GetFeedback (acquired by SurveyMonkey), Former CMO of Salesforce, Founder of Kieden (acquired by Salesforce).

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

Mark Settle, the 7 time CIO and author of the recent book Truth from the Valley, a Practical Primer on IT Management for the Next Decade, joins Lauren to discuss data mining, (and regular mining), how to recognize your constraints, the importance of performance management, and much more.

3 Takeaways:

• Data mining is a lot like drilling for oil: You don’t unlock value by looking where everyone else is already looking. You unlock value by coming up with a new “play concept.”
• It’s important to recognize your constraints. By recognizing trends you can work within your constraints to affect positive change.
• Great performance requires aggressive performance management. Moving people out of positions where they can’t perform well is ultimately a good thing for everyone involved.

Key Quotes: 

• “ A lot of times people talk about the CIO role with all due respect to my colleagues. They sometimes almost attribute too much power and influence to it. In the real world, what you can do as a CIO is constrained by lots of things.”
• “Traditional IT is now shadow IT because it is the dirty jobs primarily, that IT worries about these days. Things like data management, security, and some of the integration activities, those are all behind the scenes things.
• “When I look back, I think one of the areas of personal improvement that I would have counseled myself about was to just be more aggressive in performance management.”

Guest Bio:

Mark Settle is a seven-time CIO with broad business experience in information services, enterprise software, consumer products, high tech distribution, financial services, and oil & gas.  He has led IT organizations that supported the global operations of Fortune 500 companies; maintained the R&D infrastructure required for software product development; and hosted customer-facing delivery systems for commercial products and services. He has received multiple industry awards and is a three-time CIO 100 honoree.

He is the author of Truth from the Valley, a Practical Primer on IT Management for the Next Decade and Truth from the Trenches: A Practical Guide to the Art of IT Management which will be released in the fall of 2016.  Settle’s formal training is in the Geological Sciences. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from MIT and a PhD from Brown University. Settle is a former Air Force officer and NASA Program Scientist.

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.

We all know that getting your executive team to make more data-driven decisions is important. But according to Scott Holden, CMO of ThoughtSpot, it isn't enough. At ThoughtSpot, Scott is focused on helping entire organizations become data-driven, from top to bottom. On this episode, he discusses how he's doing this, how he thinks about decision-making in general, and much more.

Key Takeaways

• New AI tools can help push analytics and data-driven decision-making to every level of your organization.
• Data-driven decisions need to also be a part of the culture. Set an expectation that everyone can use analytics tools to make decisions.
• Making great decisions means taking risks. And that means you need to be comfortable defending the decision, no matter what the outcome.

Quotes

• "Everything that I look at in my world comes through an analytical lens, and the power of that is that you can merge lots of different data sets together and get a more cohesive view."
• "You can start out small and have a little win and then keep going."
• "The power of the modern data stack is I don't have a data analyst on my team.  We all are able to bring up data sources like a data engineer."

Thanks to our friends

Truth Be Known is brought to you by Talend, a leader in data integration and data integrity, enabling every company to find clarity amidst the chaos. Talend Data Fabric brings together in a single platform all the necessary capabilities that ensure enterprise data is complete, clean, compliant, and readily available to everyone who needs it throughout the organization. Learn more at Talend.com.