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☆ Retailers Rethink In-Store Tech as Shoppers Return
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Retailers during the pandemic poured investments into e-commerce, as many questioned whether shoppers would ever return in full force to physical stores. E-commerce is now 16.4% of all retail shopping, down from 18.8% at the height of the pandemic, according to the National Retail Federation. Photo: The Kroger Company“There is an opportunity to remove the friction,” said Mr. Cosset. “It’s never enough.”In addition to cost barriers, Mr. Cosset of Kroger said it is also wise to hold back on some investments based on what the consumer actually wants. But privacy concerns coupled with the cost of large-scale camera installation make it impractical, Mr. Cosset said.

☆ The technology challenges CEOs view as opportunity and threat in a post-Covid economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

One challenge CEOs see is that emerging and disruptive technology is both an opportunity and a threat. CEOs said their organizations need to be quicker to shift investments to digital opportunities and divest in those areas where their organizations face digital obsolescence. Addressing employee burnoutAnother issue CEOs said their organizations need to address is pandemic-related employee burnout from accelerated digital transformation over the past two years. "I think that there is some truth to the state of fatigue brought on by the need to quickly adopt remote work-related technology," Clark said. Rather than focus on the "right technology," organizations should aim to deploy the right mix of technology, Carande said.

☆ Broadcom faces EU antitrust probe into $61 bln VMware deal - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) is set to face a setback in its $61 billion bid for cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N) with EU antitrust regulators poised to open a full-scale investigation into the deal, people familiar with the matter said. The company had a so-called state of play meeting with European Commission officials earlier this week, the people said. The EU competition enforcer, which is scheduled to finish its initial scrutiny of the deal on Dec. 20, declined to comment. Broadcom said it anticipates that the time-line for the review process would be extended in other key regions due to the size of deal. "Having said that, we're still confident that this transaction will close and be completed in our fiscal 2023," the company said.

Cloud computing has dominated the tech industry, created armfuls of multi-billion dollar companies, and it's still growing exponentially. All of that makes cloud computing an excellent career choice now and for years to come. To that purpose, we created this list of people to know who are working on the next iterations of the cloud. We looked for leaders in six categories that make up the cloud universe — or cloudverse. Read on for the 2022 Cloudverse 100 list, organized alphabetically.

☆ Public-cloud providers are reimagining themselves as consultants. Here's how AWS, Azure and Google Cloud are helping finance firms use the tech to rethink their business.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In turn, public-cloud providers are reimagining themselves as business consultants. Wall Street firms are embracing the cloud for everything from research to risk and marketing. Cloud providers are building teams to interface with execsFinancial firms making the jump to the cloud are thinking beyond their IT divisions. Some of the largest Wall Street shops are taking the opportunity to rethink how they run their businesses entirely. Wall Street uses cloud to hit the reset buttonSelipsky's comments ring true on Wall Street, where cloud projects can have firm-wide ripple effects.

☆ CIOs Can Play Key Role in Guiding Companies Through Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The market for cloud computing, business software, artificial intelligence and other so-called enterprise technologies has been a relative bright spot. “During times of economic uncertainty, companies look for ways where technology can drive growth and create more economic value faster,” said Juan Perez, chief information officer at Salesforce Inc. When budgets are under scrutiny, companies tend to focus on short-term solutions that can drive efficiency and productivity, Salesforce’s Mr. Perez said. Companies should take this opportunity to reconsider the pace of hiring and employ freelance workers where it makes sense. Additionally, CIOs say they are looking at the opportunity to hire valuable workers who lost their jobs at other companies or renew technology contracts on more favorable terms.

☆ The C-Suite Survival Guide to Inflation and Economic Turbulence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Brian Hershberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

C-suite executives and other business leaders are planning for a period where inflation is sticky, interest rates are rising, the geopolitical landscape is fraught with tumult and the economy is slowing. U.S. retailers, for instance, are struggling to balance consumer expectations for discounts and the need to keep raising prices to offset high inflation. Real-estate companies are finding it costly to hedge their floating-rate debt amid surging interest costs, and even highly rated companies are pursuing term loans instead of bonds to save on interest costs. In Europe, the war in Ukraine is driving inflation, food shortages, and the prospect of a long, cold winter. Here is how marketing executives can continue to sell their brands to consumers during tight times.

☆ New CIO Wants Cisco to Be a Model for Hybrid Work
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Fletcher Previn, Cisco Systems Inc.’s new chief information officer, said he is working to help position the networking-equipment maker as a leader in hybrid work. Mr. Previn joined Cisco in 2021 as chief digital officer from International Business Machines Corp., where he was CIO. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Cisco CIO Fletcher Previn Photo: Cisco Systems Inc.An IBM veteran of more than a decade, Mr. Previn was named that company’s CIO in 2017. Enabling hybrid work should be a priority for CIOs because it can cut office costs while improving employee productivity, said Bobby Cameron, a principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc.“Priorities for the hybrid work environment continue to be digital tools for meetings and active collaboration,” Mr. Cameron said.

☆ For CIOs, it’s a critical time to deliver value on IT investments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The pressure on IT leaders to make the right decisions on technology investments is significant and is only going to intensify in the years to come. Chief information officers are expected to deliver digital dividends, and CEOs and boards--anticipating that investments in digital assets, channels, and digital business capabilities will accelerate growth--want to see these digital-driven improvements reflected in company financials. A report released last month by research firm Gartner underscored that CIOs and other IT leaders must figure out how to leverage top- and bottom-line growth from their many digital investments. An analysis of the survey data revealed four ways in which CIOs can deliver digital dividends and demonstrate the financial impact of technology investments. At Principal, she said the company has prioritized digital investments that will deliver the most value to customers and create growth opportunities and efficiencies.

☆ Here's how we chose the companies on CNBC's first-ever Top Startups for the Enterprise list
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( David Spiegel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Over the course of CNBC's ongoing conversations with the members of the TEC, an idea for a new list emerged. It would be a list of enterprise-focused, technology-driven startups powering digital transformation, attracting strategic investments and potentially drawing acquisition interest. And so, we present this first annual list of Top Startups for the Enterprise , powered by the members of the CNBC Technology Executive Council. CNBC reached out to companies from that list of nominees that self-identified as "enterprise" or "B2B" and asked them to opt in to being considered for a new list of startups for the enterprise. In addition to those companies, TEC members were given the opportunity to nominate new companies for the list via an anonymous survey.

☆ Meet the 11 execs leading Bridgewater into a new era after Ray Dalio relinquished control of the hedge fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Alyson Velati | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Bridgewater AssociatesAs cochief investment officer, Jensen oversees Bridgewater's investment strategies and research efforts as well as its investment talent. Karen Karniol-Tambour, cochief investment officer for sustainabilityKaren Karniol-Tambour, Bridgewater's cochief investment officer for sustainability. Rebecca Patterson, chief investment strategistBridgewater's chief investment strategist, Rebecca Patterson. In 2012, she joined as the chief investment officer of Bessemer Trust, managing $85 billion in client assets. The partnership elected three directors to Bridgewater's operating board of directors, which now has control over Bridgewater after Dalio relinquished control of the hedge fund.

☆ Generative AI Startups Attract Business Customers, Investor Funding
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Based on keyword prompts, generative AI platforms can then mimic these sources to produce fanciful stories and pictures of their own. Other generative AI startups offering enterprise applications include Replikr, a New Zealand startup that uses generative AI to create customer-service avatars, and Dutch startup Musico Ltd., which can be used to create original copyright-free advertising jingles. GoCharlie.AI, an early-stage startup based in San Francisco, in May launched a generative AI marketing assistant designed to create promotional social-media posts. By promising to save workers hours of productive time creating promotional materials, the commercial value proposition around generative AI has always been clear, he said. Rowan Curran, an AI and data science analyst at IT research firm Forrester Research Inc., said he expects generative AI to impact enterprises from top to bottom.

☆ Buy these 12 tech stocks that are set to recover in the pivotal Q3 earnings season with investors already as bearish as they were in 2008 and 2001, says Wedbush
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Outspoken tech analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities still likes software and cybersecurity stocks. Here are 12 of Ives' favorite tech stocks to own heading into the end of the year. Many investors seem to have lost hope ahead of a critically important Q3 earnings season. Markets haven't given companies the benefit of the doubt lately and investors will likely unload any stocks that report disappointing earnings, Ives noted, so executing in this challenging environment is essential. 12 top tech stocks to buyIn the note, Ives listed 12 of his favorite technology stocks to buy heading into the Q3 earnings season.

☆ Cybersecurity Tops the CIO Agenda as Threats Continue to Escalate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Steven Rosenbush | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Cyber and information security has been at the top of their agenda since 2020. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Gartner forecasts that worldwide information security and risk-management spending by end-users will reach $188.336 billion in 2023, up 11.3% from the current year. It’s what boards are talking about,” said Truist Financial Corp. Chief Information Security Officer Howard Whyte. He and Truist CIO Scott Case work closely to understand the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank’s changing attack surface and cybersecurity risk.

☆ Heightened Cyber Threat Brings CIOs, CISOs Closer
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

In a year of high-profile cyberattacks, chief information officers say cybersecurity has sprinted up their agenda and got them working more closely than ever with chief information security officers. Her goal is to foster a culture of cyber preparedness across the company, including ensuring staff are educated about risks. Noelle Eder, chief information officer at Cigna. While compensation is growing for both the CIO and CISO roles, Mr. Stephenson said it is growing faster for CISOs. “We really need to be working together to think about ways we can better secure information,” Mr. Vidoni said.

Many companies that have shifted enterprise-technology tools into the cloud in recent years, in part as a cost-saving measure, say those investments have yet to pay off. Rather than run software and systems in their own hardware, commercial cloud users tap computing capabilities from providers such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. They are also turning to multiple cloud providers, rather than relying on one cloud, for different systems and applications for different business areas. “Many first movers expected significant IT cost efficiency from their cloud investments,” said Barry Brunsman, a principal in KPMG’s CIO Advisory group. “You really do need to not just take it for granted that cloud is where you should head,” she said.

☆ Venture Capitalists to Tech Startups: Embrace the Downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Enterprise tech startups are continuing to innovate amid tighter economic conditions, fueled by demand from companies who fear underinvestment in tech could lose them market share, venture partners said. PREVIEWAs CIOs and companies continue putting dollars into those areas, enterprise technology startups are leaning in to meet that demand, the venture partners said. If anything, the tighter economic conditions are making entrepreneurs even hungrier, Mr. Kayyal said. “Obviously, we’re in an uncertain economy, but we see the innovation,” Mr. Kayyal said. We’re gonna see pullback, and we’re gonna see winners and losers in that pullback,” said Mr. Wall.

☆ Companies Should Treat Cyber Threats as Core Business Risk, U.S. Cyber Official Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Corporate boards need to propel companies’ investment in cyber defenses and push management to treat hacking threats as a core business risk, according to a top official of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. As boards learn to assess those defensive measures, cybersecurity will become more ingrained in American corporations, Mr. Wales said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Cybersecurity news, analysis and insights from WSJ's global team of reporters and editors. PREVIEWRecently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed that companies be required to disclose detail on board members’ cyber expertise and how often the board addresses cybersecurity. CIOs should address third-party risks when discussing cybersecurity with boards, Mr. Wales said.

☆ Automation and AI May Be Safe From Tech Budget Cuts, Says Databricks CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Kim S. Nash | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Automation is one part of the corporate tech budget unlikely to see cuts as companies tighten spending amid an economic downturn, said Databricks Inc. Chief Executive Ali Ghodsi. The company offers open-source tools for storing and analyzing large troves of data, with a focus on building artificial intelligence applications. Open-source data tools can help avoid lock-in, a scenario in which a tech provider often raises fees or slows innovation over time, he said. Farming and construction equipment maker Deere & Co., for example, is looking to Databricks’ open-source tools to build a repository for data analytics. Mr. Ghodsi declined to put a date on an IPO other than to say it will be “in the not too distant future.”Write to Kim S. Nash at kim.nash@wsj.com

☆ CIOs at Logistics Companies Call in the Robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Chief information officers at logistics companies like DHL Supply Chain North America and GXO Logistics Inc. are increasing investments in robots designed to move inventory around warehouses, but not all robots are up to the task yet, they say. GXO Logistics said it expects to be using more than 5,800 robots globally by the end of this year, up from 3,800 last year, while Kenco Logistics Services LLC plans to leverage roughly 120, up from 30 last year. Warehouse robots from Locus Robotics at a DHL Supply Chain facility. Photo: DHL Supply ChainAmid the robotics ramp-up, CIOs admit that the technology is not always more efficient than human workers or more cost effective. While warehouse robotic technology is mature in some areas, such as transporting goods from point A to point B, it is less mature in terms of picking up and placing down goods, tech leaders say.

☆ Walgreens Names Hsiao Wang as Next CIO
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said Thursday it would appoint Hsiao Wang as its new chief information officer, as tech leader Francesco Tinto departs. Mr. Wang, most recently CIO of arts-and-crafts seller Michaels Cos., steps into the new role on Sept. 26. Walgreens has named tech veteran Hsiao Wang as its new CIO. Mr. Tinto became Walgreens CIO in September 2019, just months before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team.

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