Tech Execs Moves - January 12, 2023

AMD Appoints Jean Hu as Chief Financial Officer (Former CFO Marvell)

Source

• Devinder Kumar retiring

Marvell Promotes Willem Meintjes as Chief Financial Officer (Former Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer)

• Pani Dixon - Promoted to Chief Accounting Officer previously was VP Corporate Controller

Jeffrey Karbowski, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, notified PayPal Holdings, Inc. of his decision to resign from the Company effective February 10, 2023 to pursue another opportunity.

Source

Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.) - Sivan Whiteley, the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Block, Inc. (the “Company”), informed the Company of her intention to resign from her position, with her resignation effective as of February 16, 2023.

• The Company’s current General Counsel, Chrysty Esperanza, will serve as the Interim Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, effective upon Ms. Whiteley’s resignation.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise names Frank D’Amelio, former CFO of Pfizer Inc., to Board of Directors

Source

• Frank D’Amelio has been appointed to HPE’s Board of Directors, and will serve on its Audit Committee

• D’Amelio is a distinguished leader who has an impressive track record of proven leadership in finance, corporate development, and operations

Apple Peter Stern Resigns as Vice-President of Services

Source

• Oliver Schusser, in charge of Apple Music, and Robert Kondrk, Vice President Apple Product Services and Design, are two of the executives who will take over some of Stern’s responsibilities

Cognizant Appoints Ravi Kumar S as Chief Executive Officer ( Former President Infosys)

Source

• Former Infosys President brings 20+ years of experience in the consulting, process, and technology transformation space to CEO role

• Stephen J. Rohleder appointed Chair of the Board

• Former Chair Michael Patsalos-Fox will remain on the Board as an independent director

• Kumar succeeds Brian Humphries in both roles. To facilitate a smooth transition, Humphries will remain with the Company as a special advisor until March 15, 2023.

• Leadership transition supports initiative to accelerate growth.

Alithya Appoints Bernard Dockrill as Chief Operating Officer

Source

• Claude Rousseau, Alithya's current Chief Operating Officer, will be leaving the organization at the end of the current fiscal year on March 31, 2023, for a very well-deserved retirement after having served over eight years in the role and contributed to guiding Alithya through more than 10 acquisitions and its initial public offering. He will serve as special advisor to the CEO.

Calendly Appoints Jessica Gilmartin as Chief Marketing Officer (Former Head of Revenue Marketing Asana)

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Earnix Appoints Robin Gilthorpe as Chief Executive Officer (Former Salty)

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Bullhorn Promotes Kelley Morse as Chief People Officer

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Instructure Appoints Chris Ball as President and Chief Operating Officer (Former Adobe)

Source

• Chief Revenue Officer Frank Maylett has informed the company that he intends to step down from the company. The date of Maylett's departure has not yet been determined.

Entrust Appoints Harini Gokul as Chief Customer Officer (Former Amazon Web Services)

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SymphonyAI Appoints Paul Luongo as Chief Legal Officer

Source

Totango Names Alistair Rennie as CEO

Source

• Company also appoints SaaS industry expert Vinod Hariharan as Chief Financial Officer

Khoros Appoints Brian Nourani as Chief Revenue Officer (Former Wrike (Vista Equity Company)) Source: Businesswire

• Promotes Dustin Williams as Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

• Promotes Ryan Studer as Chief Product Officer (CPO)

Balbix's Appoints Marene Allison to Advisory Board (Former Vice President and CISO of Johnson & Johnson)

Source

Appgate Promotes Leo Taddeo as Chief Executive Officer President and as a Director

Source: Businesswire

Syniverse Holdings, Inc. Appoints Sonia Sullivan as Chief Information Officer (Former Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions)

Deluxe Corp - Christopher L. Thomas Resigns as Chief Revenue Officer

Source: Marketscreener

SafetyChain Software Appoints James Nevins as Chief Sales Officer (Former Aria Systems)

Kopin Corporation - Dr. Boryeu Tsaur Resigns as Executive Vice President-Display Operations

Source: marketscreener

Northstar Travel Group Appoints Jason Young as Chief Executive Officer (Former Chicory)

Thomas Kemp transitions to chairman; Bob Sullivan promoted to chief commercial officer.

Source: businesstravelnews

GDT - General Datatech Appoints Shawn O’Grady as Chief Executive Officer (Former Private Equity and Capital Markets)

Source: Bizjounals

Everbridge Appoints Noah Webster as Chief Legal & Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary (Former Integral Ad Science)

Source: benzinga

When I Work Appoints Blake Adams as Chief Executive Officer (Former Bain Capital Tech Opportunities)

Source

Bloomerang Appoints Dennis Fois as Chief Executive Officer (Former Copper CRM)

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BirchStreet Systems, LLC Appoints John Fay as Chief Executive Officer (Former TrueCommerce) Fay succeeds Brendan Reidy, who served in the CEO role on an interim basis since January 2022 and will remain engaged with BirchStreet as the Company’s Executive Chairman

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ResultsCX Appoints Rajlakshmi Raghavan as CMO (Former Firstsource)

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Powerfleet, Inc. Appoints David Wilson as Chief Financial Officer (Former NS1)

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Okta, Inc. Retires Susan St. Ledger as President, Worldwide Field Operations

Source: Businesswire

Anaplan Appoints Charles Gottdiener as CEO and Member of the Board of Directors (Former Neustar )

Source

Executive News January 05, 2023

Executive Moves January 05, 2023

Martin Kay joins Netcapital Inc. as the Chief Executive Officer. (Former Accenture)

Aptiv PLC appoints Obed Louissaint as Chief People Officer and Senior Vice President (Former IBM)

RightData, appointed Richard Park as the new Chief Revenue Officer (Former ThoughtSpot)

Lumentum Holdings Inc., appointed Caroline Pan as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (Former Chief Marketing Officer - at Bright Machines)

News and Update (January 04, 2023)

Companies Are Gritting Their Teeth and Hiring

Source: WSJ

• Labor market remains surprisingly robust despite concerns about the economy

• The recent headlines about tech layoffs don’t seem to match broader economic indicators, which show a strong job market and a historically low unemployment rate. WSJ’s Gunjan Banerji explains the disconnect

Salesforce to Lay Off 10% of Workforce, Reduce Offices

Co-CEO Marc Benioff says cuts come as customers pull back spending

Source: WSJ

Tech Layoffs Are Happening Faster Than at Any Time During the Pandemic

Source: WSJ

• Areas that were largely spared in 2020 are now among those with the largest numbers of job cuts

• Collectively, employers in the slumping tech sector cut more than 150,000 jobs in 2022, based on estimates from Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks the events as they surface in media reports and company releases.

Board

Universal Proxy, Increased Activism and Director Vulnerability

Source: Directors and Board

• Companies should prepare now, before a proxy contest or a campaign against the election of individual directors.

• This new and challenging environment will require most boards to greatly enhance their review of board composition and individual director vulnerability in the event of a proxy contest.

• Even if these campaigns do not garner strong investor support, they can publicly reveal board skill gaps and individual director vulnerabilities.

CEOs and Boards Are Putting Succession Plans to the Test

Source: Directors and Board

• Top executive succession rates climb as challenges multiply and boards gain confidence.

How to build a ‘board bio’

Source: Deloitte

• For those seeking a director role, a carefully crafted biography focused on potential contributions can be an important tool for success.

CISOs and their Boards of Directors: Viewing Cyber Risk Differently

Source: Tripwire

• CISOs – the senior level executives responsible for developing and implementing cybersecurity programs for corporations and other organizations – are not happy campers these days. And it’s not just because they are chronically understaffed and under constant pressure.

Why Do Good Boards Make Bad Decisions?

Good boards often make bad decisions. They make bad decisions about management and governance. They make bad decisions about people and process. They make bad decisions about strategy that have long-term consequences.

People serve on corporate boards for excellent reasons, including networking, enhancing their credentials and using their business knowledge in new ways. There is often compensation, averaging about $74,000 per year.

Here are some ways good boards provide that oversight.

• A good board looks at stakeholders, not just shareholders.

• A good board takes ESG seriously.

• A good board looks at compensation at every level and asks questions.

• A good board welcomes healthy friction with management.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs, Is a Venture Studio Right for You?

Source: HBR

• Startup founders often look to incubators and accelerators to help them find product/market fit and raise initial capital. But there’s another option for entrepreneurial founders who want to go out on their own but maybe lack the right idea or team. Venture studios don’t fund an existing idea — they incubate their own ideas, build a minimum viable product, find product/market fit and early customers, and then recruit entrepreneurial founders to run and scale the business. Examples of companies that have emerged from venture studios include Overture, Twilio, Taboola, Bitly, Aircall, and the most famous alum, Moderna.

• However, in exchange for de-risking much of the early-stage startup process, venture studios take anywhere from 30% to 80% of a startup’s equity. The author explains how venture studios work, why they might be an attractive option for some entrepreneurs, and what questions to ask if you’re considering joining one

FTX and the Problem of Unchecked Founder Power

Source: HBR

• Startup founders typically face a fundamental tradeoff: They can grow the company, increasing its value and the value of their shares, but to do so they must give up some control. Or, they can keep control, at the expense of growth.

• That tradeoff exists for good reason: Investors who supply the capital necessary to grow want to make sure their money will be well spent. Co-founders and employees who join the startup want to know that it is well managed.

• To grow their startup to its full potential, a founder needs to relinquish control. But in cases like the collapse of FTX, this tradeoff breaks down — with predictable but disastrous results. It’s time to retire the founder-as-monarch model.

Tech

Tensions Grew at Salesforce Between Co-CEOs Benioff and Taylor Ahead of Leadership Change

Source: WSJ

• Exit of Bret Taylor from role he has shared for about a year wasn’t long planned

Europe Taps Tech’s Power-Hungry Data Centers to Heat Homes

Source: WSJ

• Rising energy prices and new regulations contribute to an increase in projects

• With an energy crisis hitting Europe, governments are exploring ways to recycle electricity used in social-media scrolling, conference calls and video streaming to help heat homes and offices.

• Electricity-hungry data centers are seeing huge growth in usage, leading to pressure from European officials to funnel the excess heat generated by their computer chips into municipal heating networks.

Tech Spending Pressures Fuel Demand for Specialized Industry Clouds

Source: WSJ

• Made-to-fit industry clouds offer CIOs the promise of cost savings and vendors a means to reverse slowing cloud sales

• A St. Luke’s hospital in Bethlehem, Pa. St. Luke’s University Health Network has deployed a healthcare industry cloud developed by Microsoft.

• Corporate technology leaders looking to cut costs are turning to industry-specific cloud platforms, which are outfitted with tailor-made capabilities for running hospitals, banks, stores or other businesses.

• The system, built by Microsoft Corp. , helped St. Luke’s develop a healthcare-specific data system needed to integrate IT platforms and capabilities across its network of a dozen hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites

• Gartner Inc., an IT research and consulting firm, expects companies worldwide to run more than half of their critical business technology in an industry cloud within the next four years, up from less than 10% in 2021

• Gartner Inc., an IT research and consulting firm, expects companies worldwide to run more than half of their critical business technology in an industry cloud within the next four years, up from less than 10% in 2021

CIO 2023 Priorities: Speed and Agility

Source: WSJ

• A tumultuous geopolitical landscape and continued economic tightening are expected to influence the CIO agenda

• Some chief information officers have to adapt quickly to meet their goals in 2023—some say they’re giving priority to select technology projects, others are finding ways to speed up their operations and work more closely with their executive peers.

• What has changed somewhat for us is the need to move even faster on all fronts, including the speed with which we deploy disruptive new technologies, deliver what the business needs for new opportunities, and expand and improve our offerings to customers - Fred Killeen, vice president of global IT and chief information officer at automotive manufacturing company General Motors Co.

• Digital transformation initiatives that “drive value against core metrics for our business.” Chris Bedi, CIO of software maker ServiceNow Inc.

CIO 2023 Priorities: Cybersecurity

Source: WSJ

The mantra of the year: Trust no one

• Cybersecurity remains a top investment agenda for corporate technology chiefs in 2023 as companies race to combat cyber threats.

• The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said it received a record 847,376 complaints around cyberattacks in 2021, with potential losses exceeding $6.9 billion.

Bill Braun – CIO Chevron Corp | John Roese - Global Chief Technology Officer of Dell Technologies Inc. | Fletcher Previn - CIO Cisco Systems Inc | Sharon Mandell, CIO Juniper Networks Inc.