This partner post originally appeared on the CA Technologies blog.
Last month I attended the Mack Institute Fall Conference 2014, where the topic focused on how technology is changing the face of innovation. Conference speakers shared valuable insight about how their respective businesses are trying to maintaining customer satisfaction while responding to the disruption created by software and technology.
It was great to hear from a wide range of speakers representing established brands like Colgate-Palmolive and P&G to rising start-ups like SocialGlimpz. In addition, it was wonderful to see CA Technologies’ SVP and GM of eCommerce and Mobility Ram Varadarajan presenting to the audience the importance of leveraging the advances in technology during a time when every business is essentially becoming a software business.
The Mack Institute conference is an experience that I always look forward to year after year. There’s something truly inspiring about being surrounded by industry thought-leaders and sharing insight on business strategies. Sometimes our busy day-to-day tasks take us away from thinking about the importance of innovation, a concept that is vital for keep up with a constantly changing business landscape.
Here are my top seven quotes from the conference:
- “There are three types of innovation – incremental, transformative, and disruptive.” – P&G former VP of Innovation Larry Huston
- “Technology ultimately allows us to interact with consumers in a more real way.” – Colgate-Palmolive VP of Consumer & Market Insights Richard Thorogood
- “Whatever we do with technology, we still need to blend that with judgment, intuition, and experience.” – Thorogood
- “In healthcare, when the desire to be the innovator comes up the question about how it impacts the bottom line always comes up…” – Avia CSO Leslie Wainwright
- “Innovation is already democratized but commercialization is not, which is where crowdfunding comes to play. Everyone innovates and new innovation happens everywhere.” – Wharton Assistant Professor of Management Ethan Mollick
- “Visuals are the new language of consumers. Visuals are a transformation in literally the way people interact with each other and interact in their daily life.” – SocialGlimpz CEO Parry Bedi (WG’12)
- “Imagine what the conversation was like back then when someone said ‘hey, let’s get people to take pictures of their checks.’ If you don’t partake in the app economy you’re dead.” – Varadarajan
Sid Kumar (WG’09) is global head of customer lifecycle solutions at CA Technologies, where he and his team partner with enterprises around the globe. By leveraging a lifecycle management approach to adopting the latest innovations, those enterprise organizations can maximize the value of their software investments. Sid has a history of technology leadership at CA and in the technology sector, including private equity.