Modernization: Architecting the Future of Your Business
Roundtable
November 1 | New York
The Bloomberg Modernization Roadshow came to New York, where business and technology executives gathered for a roundtable dinner to discuss concrete solutions tackling the challenges in their information environments. The roundtable discussion focused on cybersecurity, supply chain issues, working from home, and talent development.
Speakers included:
- Nicole Brown, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Mediaocean
- Joe Gimigliano, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Mount Sinai Health System
- Ernst Goldman, Senior Vice President, Citi
- Bharat Jalan, Senior Vice President, AIG
- Carrie Jaquith, Global Head of Product, Abaxx Technologies
- Mark McGinnis, Cognitive Systems Solutions Leader, IBM
- John Napoli, Head of CTO & CDO Strategy, Governance, & Execution, JPMorgan Chase
- Aref Matin, Chief Technology Officer, John Wiley & Sons
- Boris Natkovitch, Director, Risk and Finance Technology, Bank of America
- Ashish Parmar, Chief Information Officer, Tapestry
- Steven Sadoff, Chief Information Officer, Cantor Fitzgerald L.P.
- Jamie Thomas, General Manager, Systems Development, Delivery & Enterprise Security, IBM
- Mark Watson, Network Architect, Temple University
Bloomberg participants:
- Shawn Edwards, Chief Technology Officer, Bloomberg
- Janet Wu, Anchor & Reporter, Bloomberg
Roundtable Highlights
The State of Cybersecurity
One of the biggest discussions surrounding modern technology is around the threat posed by hostile actors launching cyberattacks on businesses and institutions. Janet Wu, Anchor & Reporter, Bloomberg asked the panel “How are we doing as far as resilience to cyberattacks? Because it certainly seems like the United States is always the target.” Ernst Goldman, Senior Vice President, Citi, promptly replied “Don’t they go where the money is?”
Bharat Jalan, Senior Vice President, AIG, pointed out the degree to which American geopolitical adversaries are often involved in these cyberattacks. “Most attacks that impact critical US infrastructure and security are by state-accommodated actors. They know stuff is going on, but they look the other way.” These attacks can, however, be mitigated substantially by developing cyber literacy amongst the workforce. “If you’re going to leave default passwords on your server, or have people clicking on phishing links, it doesn’t matter what kind of technology you have in place. 75% of all cyberattacks are happening due to a lack of awareness or training,” said Bharat.
Joe Gimigliano, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Mount Sinai Health System lamented the lack of initiative on part of the United States government in supporting and overseeing the cybersecurity of businesses. “There’s no regulatory authority that’s measuring security. There has to be some security standards, some seal of approval.”
Though the government may be slower to catch up, companies are fortunately now starting to recognize the importance of prioritizing strong cybersecurity. Carrie Jaquith, Global Head of Product, Abaxx Technologies was optimistic in this regard, saying “We’re finally seeing budgets that normally would have gone to research and development finally going to data security.”
Supply Chain Woes
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, the global supply chain network has seen dramatic turmoil. In particular, Taiwan has been facing increasingly concerning threats from its neighbor China, which views the island of Taiwan as a part of its sovereign territory. As the premier semiconductor manufacturing hub, a military invasion of Taiwan would have devastating implications for technology industries in every country. Ernst Goldman noted that, as a result of spreading out supply chains across the globe, “The semiconductor industry is completely dislocated.”
Jamie Thomas, General Manager, Systems Development, Delivery & Enterprise Security, IBM warned that “The problem is we moved manufacturing overseas. We own the design, we own the materials. We can mine lithium, we just choose not to mine it. This isn’t about this quarter or that quarter. This is a national security issue.” She argued that while the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act was a big win, it is still too little too late. “The CHIPS Act is going to help us work on the chips, but it’s going to take more than five years to become reality. What if China invades Taiwan, what are we going to do?”
The Future of Working From Home
An open question that companies have to answer is when does it make sense to come into the office, and when is it acceptable to work from home? Shawn Edwards, Chief Technology Officer, Bloomberg turned to the panelists and said “I’m really annoyed I’m about to ask this, but what’s your work from home policy?”
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, though. Different industries, and different roles within each of those industries, have various needs to consider. John Napoli, Head of CTO & CDO Strategy, Governance, & Execution, JPMorgan Chase answered “Different jobs have different requirements. For some jobs it makes sense to allow working from home, such as those working in technology.”
An advantage to the work-from-home strategy is that it allows businesses to pull talent from different countries where labor costs are lower. Nicole Brown, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Mediaocean remarked that “We started hiring from Canada because there’s a lot of strong talent there, and it’s a bit cheaper. Work from home allows us to build in places where it’s more cost effective.”
Still, the traditional in-office setup remains essential in developing new talent. Mark McGinnis, Cognitive Systems Solutions Leader, IBM noted that “Younger people really have got to go to the office 5 days a week, but they’re going to need people there to mentor them.”
This Bloomberg briefing was Proudly Sponsored By
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