TRACK ONE - VISION
The drive toward the future begins by clearly seeing it, as well as hidden opportunities that may lie within. However, it does not end there. Real leaders know that they also must give life to that vision through guiding strategies, improved alignment within expanding fields of play, and innovative actions that will re-shape enterprise of tomorrow. This track will look deeply into all of these facets.
Leadership success begins with a guiding vision, one that exhibits a passion that is compelling enough to capture the minds and dedication of many people. It has power, it inspires, it excites, and it clarifies the intended work of the enterprise over an extended period of time. All in all, a clear vision is an absolute key to your future success as an IT leader, and (to borrow a familiar phrase) “you cannot leave home without it”.
So, do you have one? What is it? What is your unambiguous answer to the never-ending question of, “Why?”
Whether a company is in start-up, in the midst of a turn-around, looking to extend or transform itself for the future, or working through some kind of current duress, its path with the creation and institution of a compelling vision that will in turn be well-communicated and made the basis for future sound judgment. Listen as several extremely successful and nationally renowned IT leaders, all from different backgrounds and corporate settings, share their stories and insights regarding the creation and cultural adoption of a guiding corporate vision.
David Platt - Head of IT, Americas - Mettler Toledo
Joe Szmadzinski - Managing Partner - Questor Enterprise Partners
Pablo Vegas - CIO - American Electric Power
Bill Waszak - Former CIO - The Scotts Company
SESSION SUMMARY:
Leadership success begins with a guiding vision, one that exhibits a passion that is compelling enough to capture the minds and dedication of many people. It has power, it inspires, it excites, and it clarifies the intended work of the enterprise over an extended period of time. All in all, a clear vision is an absolute key to your future success as an IT leader, and (to borrow a familiar phrase) “you cannot leave home without it”.
So, do you have one? What is it? What is your unambiguous answer to the never-ending question of, “Why?”
Whether a company is in start-up, in the midst of a turn-around, looking to extend or transform itself for the future, or working through some kind of current duress, its path with the creation and institution of a compelling vision that will in turn be well-communicated and made the basis for future sound judgment. Listen as several extremely successful and nationally renowned IT leaders, all from different backgrounds and corporate settings, share their stories and insights regarding the creation and cultural adoption of a guiding corporate vision.
Moderator:
Bruce Barnes - President - Bold Vision, LLCPanelists:
Vince Kellen - CIO, University of Kentucky Senior Consultant - Cutter ConsortiumDavid Platt - Head of IT, Americas - Mettler Toledo
Joe Szmadzinski - Managing Partner - Questor Enterprise Partners
Pablo Vegas - CIO - American Electric Power
Bill Waszak - Former CIO - The Scotts Company
Moderator:
Bruce Barnes
President - Bold Vision, LLC
Mr. Bruce Barnes has over thirty-nine years of experience as a senior level officer in the technology arena, including very influential roles in Fortune 100 companies. He has received numerous industry accolades, including having been recognized as one of this country’s most noted CIOs. He is still a recognized voice at national industry events and in major industry publications.
Mr. Barnes is the founder and CEO of BOLD VISION®, a senior consulting consortium of “C Level” executives, focused on building an active and creative network of I/T leaders devoted to sharing best practices, leveraging their strengths and perspectives, and raising the level of technical “literacy” within their own organizations.
Prior to that, he served as VP of I/T Strategy and Planning for a $200B international insurance and financial services company, the Chief Information Officer for a public $100B international financial services company, and the Chief Information Officer for Ohio’s largest privately owned HMO.
Prior to that, he held various management positions with an international library/information services company, the Washington (DC) office of a major technology vendor, and as an officer in the United States Army.
He is a co-founder and on-going co-producer for the industry acclaimed “CIO Solutions Gallery©” series, which is nationally HQ’d out of The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.
Mr. Barnes also graduated from The Ohio State University, where he also now serves as an on-going Lecturer for the Fisher College in both its Executive MBA program and its undergraduate MIS and Accounting programs.
Mr. Barnes is the founder and CEO of BOLD VISION®, a senior consulting consortium of “C Level” executives, focused on building an active and creative network of I/T leaders devoted to sharing best practices, leveraging their strengths and perspectives, and raising the level of technical “literacy” within their own organizations.
Prior to that, he served as VP of I/T Strategy and Planning for a $200B international insurance and financial services company, the Chief Information Officer for a public $100B international financial services company, and the Chief Information Officer for Ohio’s largest privately owned HMO.
Prior to that, he held various management positions with an international library/information services company, the Washington (DC) office of a major technology vendor, and as an officer in the United States Army.
He is a co-founder and on-going co-producer for the industry acclaimed “CIO Solutions Gallery©” series, which is nationally HQ’d out of The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business.
Mr. Barnes also graduated from The Ohio State University, where he also now serves as an on-going Lecturer for the Fisher College in both its Executive MBA program and its undergraduate MIS and Accounting programs.
Panelist:
Vince Kellen
CIO, University of Kentucky Senior Consultant - Cutter
Vince Kellen became University of Kentucky’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) on February 1, 2009. As the commonwealth’s flagship institution, University of Kentucky is a comprehensive research university with a broad array of top-ranked undergraduate and graduate programs and a major healthcare enterprise. He and his senior managers lead a staff of 250 in supporting about 28,000 students, 18 colleges and 13,000 employees in IT strategic planning, enterprise software (ERP), high performance computing (HPC), computing labs, classroom technology, learning management systems (LMS), business intelligence, student information systems, data center operations and network infrastructure. Mr. Kellen brings IT vision, transformational leadership and broad technology and business acumen to his role as CIO. Mr. Kellen is a senior analyst with the highly regarded IT industry think-tank, Cutter Consortium, participating in Cutter’s Business-IT Strategies, IT Trends, and Business Intelligence practices. Vince also serves on advisory boards for Dell, AT&T, Apple and Blackboard.
Mr. Kellen's 27-year experience involves a rare combination of strategy consulting, IT architecture and entrepreneurialism and has worked in several industries including petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, retail, consumer goods manufacturing, insurance and education. Mr. Kellen previously served as Vice President for Information Services (CIO) at DePaul University, where he won CIO Magazine's coveted Top 100 award in 2007 and as a partner in a major consulting firm. A national and international speaker on business and IT strategy issues, Mr. Kellen has authored four books on database technology and more than 200 articles and presentations on IT and business strategy topics.
Mr. Kellen is an adjunct faculty member at University of Kentucky where he lectures on business information technology and strategy and was an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University for 10 years where he lectured on enterprise architecture, distributed systems and ethical and information technology. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Kellen also helped DePaul University launch the one of the nation’s first graduate degrees in e-commerce.
Mr. Kellen's 27-year experience involves a rare combination of strategy consulting, IT architecture and entrepreneurialism and has worked in several industries including petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, retail, consumer goods manufacturing, insurance and education. Mr. Kellen previously served as Vice President for Information Services (CIO) at DePaul University, where he won CIO Magazine's coveted Top 100 award in 2007 and as a partner in a major consulting firm. A national and international speaker on business and IT strategy issues, Mr. Kellen has authored four books on database technology and more than 200 articles and presentations on IT and business strategy topics.
Mr. Kellen is an adjunct faculty member at University of Kentucky where he lectures on business information technology and strategy and was an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University for 10 years where he lectured on enterprise architecture, distributed systems and ethical and information technology. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Kellen also helped DePaul University launch the one of the nation’s first graduate degrees in e-commerce.
Panelist:
David Platt
Head of IT, Americas - Mettler Toledo
Mr. David Platt is the Head of IT, Americas for METTLER TOLEDO, a global supplier or . Over 30 years there he has held leadership positions in engineering, marketing, production, strategic planning and IT. His work involves planning and management for the global IT team.
Prior to METTLER TOLEDO he held positions with General Electric Information Services and as a consultant.
He graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in electrical engineering and business administration.
He is active in the CIO communitiy in Columbus, Ohio and is the past chairman of the CIOhio (now TechTomorrow) conference.
Prior to METTLER TOLEDO he held positions with General Electric Information Services and as a consultant.
He graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in electrical engineering and business administration.
He is active in the CIO communitiy in Columbus, Ohio and is the past chairman of the CIOhio (now TechTomorrow) conference.
Panelist:
Joe Szmadzinski
Managing Partner - Questor Enterprise Partners
Joe Szmadzinski is a Managing Director of Questor Enterprise Partners and leads QEP’s efforts to support portfolio company performance improvement. He specializes in organizational, business process and systems transformation. Applying over 20 years of private equity experience in assessing, planning, developing and managing/delivering positive change, he is responsible for designing QEP’s operational due diligence process as well as participating in portfolio company change activities. He also coordinates and oversees the development of QEP’s key partner service vendors, who provide consulting and other services to portfolio companies.
Joe is a former Consulting Partner at both KPMG and PwC (Coopers and Lybrand). He has served as CEO, CIO and COO of a wide variety of companies, including GMAC, Edcor Services, GeoLogistics, Amerisure Insurance, IT Management Resources, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Continuum Health, NetRegulus and Champion Industries. In these roles he was responsible for major transformations which drove increased shareholder value.
Joe is considered one of the country’s leading IT systems executives, and he developed and led the IT and Business Systems Transformation Practice for AlixPartners for over eight years. Joe has his BS from Grand Valley State University in Information Systems and Physics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers and is a frequent speaker on leading edge topics in business change and IT systems.
Joe is a former Consulting Partner at both KPMG and PwC (Coopers and Lybrand). He has served as CEO, CIO and COO of a wide variety of companies, including GMAC, Edcor Services, GeoLogistics, Amerisure Insurance, IT Management Resources, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Continuum Health, NetRegulus and Champion Industries. In these roles he was responsible for major transformations which drove increased shareholder value.
Joe is considered one of the country’s leading IT systems executives, and he developed and led the IT and Business Systems Transformation Practice for AlixPartners for over eight years. Joe has his BS from Grand Valley State University in Information Systems and Physics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers and is a frequent speaker on leading edge topics in business change and IT systems.
Panelist:
Pablo Vegas
CIO - American Electric Power
Pablo A. Vegas is vice president and chief information officer of American Electric Power. As CIO, he is responsible for the strategic planning, delivery and support of AEP’s technology infrastructure. This includes business applications, enterprise architecture and technology, cyber security, business continuity, telecommunications and IT infrastructure.
Prior to his current position, Vegas served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas. As president and chief operating officer he was responsible for serving nearly a million customers in central and north Texas and overseeing the business’s distribution, safety, customer services, marketing, communications, governmental affairs and regulatory functions.
Previously, Pablo served as director of strategic planning for AEP, working cross functionally across AEP’s utility operations, wholesale and retail generation, energy marketing and trading, finance and shared services functions, to formulate AEP’s short and long term strategic plans.
Before joining AEP, Pablo held senior leadership positions with IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Andersen Consulting.
Pablo serves as the v ice-chairman of the board of trustees for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. He also serves as co-chair for the Edison Electric Institute CIO sub-committee on cyber security.
Pablo attended the AEP Strategic Leadership program at The Ohio State University and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. He lives with his wife and three children in Columbus, Ohio.
Prior to his current position, Vegas served as president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas. As president and chief operating officer he was responsible for serving nearly a million customers in central and north Texas and overseeing the business’s distribution, safety, customer services, marketing, communications, governmental affairs and regulatory functions.
Previously, Pablo served as director of strategic planning for AEP, working cross functionally across AEP’s utility operations, wholesale and retail generation, energy marketing and trading, finance and shared services functions, to formulate AEP’s short and long term strategic plans.
Before joining AEP, Pablo held senior leadership positions with IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Andersen Consulting.
Pablo serves as the v ice-chairman of the board of trustees for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio. He also serves as co-chair for the Edison Electric Institute CIO sub-committee on cyber security.
Pablo attended the AEP Strategic Leadership program at The Ohio State University and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering. He lives with his wife and three children in Columbus, Ohio.
Panelist:
Bill Waszak
Former CIO - The Scotts Company
Bill Waszak is the former Vice President and Chief Information Officer for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, where he was responsible for the company’s global information technology operations and services. Prior to this position, Waszak was Vice President of Business Development, which included support of worldwide supply chain, research and development and information technology strategic initiatives.
Prior to Scotts Miracle-Gro, Waszak held multiple executive positions with Nalco Chemical in Chicago, Limited Brands in Columbus, OH and was with the former Ernst & Young consulting organization for nine years, specializing in business transformation and information technology.
Waszak has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Arizona State University and an MBA degree from Cleveland State University.
Prior to Scotts Miracle-Gro, Waszak held multiple executive positions with Nalco Chemical in Chicago, Limited Brands in Columbus, OH and was with the former Ernst & Young consulting organization for nine years, specializing in business transformation and information technology.
Waszak has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Arizona State University and an MBA degree from Cleveland State University.
