Johanna Ambrosio

Video chats with 7 premier IT leaders

March 08, 2013 11:55 AM EST

This week marked the annual Computerworld Premier 100 conference, where IT leaders from around the world gathered in Tucson, Ariz., to hear from peers about innovative projects and be honored for their own work.  Several of these leaders took some time to speak with Computerworld editors about their projects and trends affecting the IT industry.

[With my thanks to Keith Shaw, our camera man and video-editing guru par excellence, and to the other editors who arranged/and or conducted video interviews -- Tracy Mayor, Ellen Fanning and Julia King.]

Daphne Jones, Hospira

On the first day of the conference, Daphne Jones, SVP and CIO at Hospira, Inc., discussed how IT is "sitting in the catbird seat" with its overall view of the organization. In this video, she discusses the benefits of continuous process innovation, and how global companies can deal with local issues that affect universal processes.

Daphne Jones, senior vice president and CIO at Hospira, chats with Computerworld at its Premier 100 conference in Tucson, Ariz. Jones discusses the benefits of continuous process innovation and how to deal with local issues at a global business.

Robert Krestakos, Steelcase

During one of the breakout sessions, Robert Krestakos, CIO at Steelcase, chatted with leaders about how IT can push past the traditional boundaries and influence core parts of the business, such as product development and business operations. In this video, Krestakos chats about his company's Innovation Management Office, which helps drive innovation through IT projects.

Robert Krestakos, CIO at Steelcase, discusses the Innovation Management Office at the company that helps drive innovation via IT projects. Krestakos was a speaker at the Computerworld Premier 100 event in Tucson, Ariz.

Judy Batenburg, Starz Entertainment

Another breakout discussion was led by Judy Batenburg, VP of IT Infrastructure & Operations at Starz Entertainment. Her discussion (and the following video) focused on how IT was able to transform itself from a small back room operation to become a major partner with the broadcast business side of the premium channel.

Judith L. Batenburg, VP of IT Infrastructure & Operations at Starz Entertainment, chats about how IT transformed itself to become a major partner with the broadcast business side of the entertainment company.

Loren Bast, Cheezburger

Business intelligence was a big topic at the Premier 100 conference. Loren Bast, one of the 100 IT leaders honored at the event, chatted with Computerworld about how the Internet humor site (best known for putting funny captions on cat photos) now uses data-driven analytics to help site editors improve page views and interactions with visitors.

At the Premier 100 event in Tucson, Ariz., Ellen Fanning chats with Loren Bast, director of Business Intelligence for Cheezburger, about how the humor sites use data-driven analytics to improve page views and interactions with visitors.
At the Premier 100 event in Tucson, Ariz., Ellen Fanning chats with Loren Bast, director of Business Intelligence for Cheezburger, about how the humor sites use data-driven analytics to improve page views and interactions with visitors.

John Prusnick, Hyatt Hotels

The theme of innovation through IT was big at the conference. John Prusnick, director of IT Innovation and Strategy at Hyatt Hotels, was a member of a panel discussion that focused on in-house innovation labs (aka "IT skunkworks") and how these could leverage evolving cloud, mobile and social networking technologies. In this video, Prusnick discusses how the company's "lab hotels" can help IT innovate with new products and services for the hospitality industry.

John Prusnick, director of IT Innovation and Strategy at Hyatt Hotels, talks about how thinking differently about the customer can help IT innovate with new products and services in the hospitality industry.

Richard Maranville, Freeman

Another honoree at the conference was Richard Maranville, CIO at Freeman. In this video, he discusses with Computerworld the benefits and challenges of developing their Concierge Elite mobile app, which helps Freeman's clients more quickly deal with trade show setup and post-event shipping. Maranville also offers advice for companies looking to go mobile with new apps or existing processes.

Richard Maranville, CIO at Freeman, discusses the benefits and challenges with developing their Concierge Elite mobile app. He also gives advice to companies looking to go mobile with their apps or processes.

Raman Mehta, EWIE

One of the Premier 100 alumni members, Raman Mehta took some time away from the event to chat with Computerworld about how his manufacturing company has been able to get data into the hands of plant floor employees to improve efficiency.

Raman Mehta, CIO and Chief Process Architect at EWIE Co., talks about how getting data onto the manufacturing plant floor can improve efficiencies.