Possibilities

Getting people to apply to Harvard is easy. Degree from an elite university? Yes, please! Harvard Online, however? Well, that can prove a bit more challenging. Online education is a crowded marketplace with lots of offerings, all at different price points, and each serving students with a distinct set of value propositions. Ryan Frazier is the Managing Director Technology at Harvard Business School Online. He joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about how the team at Harvard developed online education pre-COVID and how they are managing the opportunities and challenges the pandemic presents. You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

What's something in e-commerce that's not sexy, but it's very, very important? Answer: Data With the accelerated online buying trend brought to you by COVID-19, data's role is growing more and more important, but also tougher to understand and manage. Aisha Khan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Pharmapacks and an Adjunct Professor of data visualization and supply chain management at Rutgers University.  She joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about her perspectives on the way COVID-19 is changing e-commerce and the role of data and data management. Here's what we discussed with Aisha: The internal perspective on COVID and commerce The change management perspective Why packaging is suddenly more important than ever And all things data You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Certain things matter in your digital transformation — namely, data, storage, voice, and time. If you're not changing one of those things in a profound way, you're not transforming. You're just adapting in order to survive an environmental change. That's why COVID-19 may not be the driver of digital transformation we thought it would be.  Alberto Cozer is the Senior Global IT Platforms Manager at Nestlé. He joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about the digital transformation journey and why a post-COVID-19 world may not have experienced the transformation many people expect. You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Today's world isn't January 2020.    The coronavirus and the response to its spread have reshaped global supply chains (among a few other things). How are planning departments looking into the future? What's happening on the ground as forecasters scramble to keep supply equal to demand?    Eric Wilson is the director of thought leadership at the Institute of Business Forecasting and Planning.   He joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about how planners and forecasters are coping with limited inventory, supply issues, customer service, and razor-thin profit margins all at the same time.   You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Everybody wants to be innovative, right? But what does that mean? And how do you go from having a conversation about innovation to actually getting everybody in a room together to start talking about some problem?   Ashish Srivastava leads the innovation hub within MindTree, which they call "the digital pumpkin," and Nelly Ortiz is the head of strategy and innovation at the same company.   Ashish and Nelly joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about digital leadership and innovation, what they mean for business outcomes and how the innovation process works when it's done effectively.   You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Are different industries occupying different spaces on the spectrum of digital transformation? And if so, what are the drivers of that?   Justin Honaman is the Vice President of Strategic Sourcing & Procurement: Analytics, Data, Digital Transformation at Georgia-Pacific.    He joined us on this episode of The Possibilities Podcast to talk about how each industry is facing its own unique data analytics challenge based on its maturity in the digital transformation process.   You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to The Possibilities Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

4 days.    170,000+ attendees.    Everyone from tech CEOs to Deepak Chopra to Megan Rapinoe.    Dreamforce 2019 #DF19 was a smashing success.    People came from all over the globe to hear about the latest innovations, the latest acquisitions, and the latest technology bombshells coming from the Salesforce camp.    On a recent episode of the Possibilities podcast, we sat down with Eric Scheel, CTO at Magnet360, a Salesforce consulting partner, to talk all about: The latest announcements out of #DF19 Customer 360 Truth The customer reactions to all the innovation at #DF19 The biggest challenges he sees when helping companies implement digital transformation You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Possibilities podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Tim Eisenmann joined American Tire Distributors about two years ago, right as they were on the verge of transitioning from being a tire distributor to becoming a digital first data driven solutions provider. And a lot of companies are making a similar shift in their business model these days.  So, how are they doing it? And is this shift something that might benefit your own company? Tim came on the latest episode of the Possibilities podcast to answer all of these questions and more. You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Possibilities podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Ask any analyst and they’ll tell you. Data is king.  If you want to create real momentum at your company, if you want to press forward and really take your organizational effectiveness to the next level, you’re going to need quality data.  It doesn’t matter how great a plan you have, how great a sales team you have, or how out-of-this-world your marketing team is. If your data is sub-par, your results will be as well.  On this episode of the Possibilities podcast, we sat down with Armin Kakas, VP of Data Science Commercialization at  American Tire Distributors to talk about revenue management, growing your COE, and bringing more data driven modeling into the culture of your organization.  You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Possibilities podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

Edtech isn’t a peripheral consideration of the technology space, and it’s demanding attention. Hunt Winston joined us to discuss how AI is transforming education and other sectors of the business landscape. Hunt has almost 25 years experience in the technology space, including executive IT roles at Honeywell Aerospace and others. Currently, he is the COO of NWEA, a non-profit edtech company. Hunt also has an MBA from Webster University. What we talked about: How AI is putting the student back at the center of education Innovation is putting CIOs back in the control space Partners are combining competencies within the solution development process You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Possibilities podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Looking for additional content? Check out our blog.

“Starting tomorrow, you can throw your badge away, because you won’t need it to access the building anymore.”  Sounds like a dream come true, right? How many times have you gotten to the front door of the building, only to realize that you left your badge in your car? Or worse, at home?  Then you’ve got to go through the hassle of getting someone to sponsor you for a temporary badge, or just go home and get it, which depending on where you live, may just mean working from home for the day.  So to be able to ditch the badge entirely? Who wouldn’t want that?

Digital transformation is simply this: When technology lets you solve a problem in a completely new way that somehow makes things better. In other words, can you apply technology to solve problems that weren’t solved before? Today’s guest is Jon Miller, CEO and Co-Founder at Engagio and former Co-Founder of Marketo.  Jon shares his definition of digital transformation, a history of marketing automation, three major shifts in digital transformation for marketers today, and how to toe the line between data capturing and data privacy (i.e., how to be personalized but not creepy).

Struggling to drive a credible initiative in your company? Hear Sandya Magge discuss why these barriers exist, how to ID these barriers, and the process of breaking through them. Digitally transform your organization with these expert tips.

On this episode of the Possibilities podcast, we interviewed Brenton O’Callaghan, head of SAP Innovation at Mindtree. Brenton shared his expertise on how to approach digital transformation.

These days, we hear a lot of concern about technology replacing humans. But Michael McCunney, VP of Marketing at Revenue Analytics, believes that pairing technology with the human element still provides the best possible outcome. We interviewed Michael on this episode of the Possibilities podcast to talk more about this debate and other issues surrounding the digital transformation.

On today's episode of Possibilities, we're talking about how digital transformation has impacted the staffing and recruiting industry. Our guest today is David Webb, Co-founder and CEO of BrightMove, an applicant tracking system. David shared his thoughts on how the industry has changed over the years and how you can utilize technology to be more efficient and successful in your recruiting efforts.

Retail, CPG, digital transformation -- how do these all mix? The term “digital transformation” is frequently tossed around. While this term is difficult enough to define on its own, it becomes increasingly complicated when you add in consumers, brands, and retail. So, we brought in a known expert on Consumer Product Goods, as well as digital transformation - Werner Graf. Currently, Werner is the Global Head of CPG here at Mindtree. Previously, he worked for IBM, Procter and Gamble, and Tata Consulting Services, the largest company in India, among others. Werner joined us on our latest Possibilities Podcast episode to share his thoughts on digital transformation within the retail and CPG space.

Digitization isn’t coming. It’s here. Just ask the music industry about the Napster panic in the early 2000s. How does a media company survivice, succeed and even thrive in an era of digitization? We discuss all this and more on our Mindtree podcast. Craig Besnoy, had a firsthand account of the days when the music industry was rocked by the file sharing panic in the early 2000s. Namely, Napster. Napster exposed the music industry as money-grabbers selling $15 worth of CDs for only two songs users really wanted. Napster changed everything. Consumers valuation went from the music itself, to access to the music. That same change is hitting the other industries the same way.

Who owns “data quality” in your organization? If your answer is, “that’s the IT department’s job!” you may have some issues to solve. Stefanie Causey is the Senior Director of IS Solutions Delivery at Aspect Software and she is an expert on data and digital transformation.   Stefanie joined us for this episode of Possibilities to talk about the evolution of technology, the importance of breaking down silos, and much more.

Banking customers have changed. No longer is providing security for funds the only concern - security is table stakes. Customers now demand optimized agility. Banks have found themselves lagging behind this demand, and entities like PayPal and cryptocurrencies have stepped in where banks have failed to define the industry. But that’s not the end of the story. Fintech provides an opportunity for banks to not only provide new services, but change their mentality, change their company, to a relevant, digitized firm, providing services and access in ways they never have. Digitization isn’t the problem, it’s the answer.

Scott Bendle is the Chief Information Officer at Rigaku, a company that makes analytical equipment for material science and life science applications. Rigaku has 1,500 employees, 1,000 of which are in Japan. Scott’s IT team supports the remaining employees outside of Japan. Although Scott has an educational background in technology, he is a non-traditional CIO because he comes from a background in operations.  Scott’s background in operational discipline make him incredibly efficient at moving projects across the finish line and accomplishing more with less.   He relies on his IT team and his own research to make up any gaps in knowledge that someone from a strictly technological background would have.  Scott joined us for this episode of Possibilities to talk about the changing role of IT departments, digital transformation, data, and best practices he’s learned along the way.

In this intro episode, you'll hear host Brendan Kavaney from Mindtree explain what you can expect from the Possibilities podcast.