VELL BLOG

June 20, 2017

Welcome to the Vell Leadership Update 46th monthly edition, for the 30 days ending June 14, 2017.

We’ve seen a lot of shakeups this past month, as 125 new heads of technology have stepped up, including new CTOs, CIOs, tech & ops execs and CISOs. Quite a few new tech executive roles have opened up, as well.

A little bit of Vell news: we are announcing our new website... it has been a long time coming! Do check it out....  www.vell.com. Feedback is greatly appreciated. First of each error found will get a Vell trinket!

Travis KalanickUber Technologies’ CEO Travis Kalanick, 40, has stepped down from his role. He will continue to serve on the board of directors.  Five of the major shareholders in the company – Benchmark Capital, Fidelity, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital and Menlo Ventures, demanded the CEO’s resignation. 

Kalanick co-founded Uber in 2009 and led it to be the largest U.S. ride-hailing service and among the biggest globally. Prior to Uber, he co-founded Red Swoosh in 2001 that specialized in file-sharing technology and managed to sell it to Akamai Technologies for nearly $19 million in 2007. Before Red Swoosh, he co-founded Scour with his UCLA batch mates in 1998 which offered an Internet search engine and file-sharing services.

Uber Technologies’ month's long investigation into its own culture has now extended into its most senior ranks.  

The Holder Investigation Findings. On Tuesday morning (June 13th, 2017), former US Attorney General, Eric Holder and his law firm issued a report with 13 recommendations, as published by the New York Times Link to Eric Holder's Report Recommendations by NYT). The recommendations included transferring some of the CEO’s responsibilities to the COO and appointing an independent Chairman.  

Uber Technologies’ CEO Travis Kalanick, 40, has stepped down from his role. He will continue to serve on the board of directors.  Five of the major shareholders in the company – Benchmark Capital, Fidelity, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital and Menlo Ventures, demanded the CEO’s resignation. 

FleetCor Welcomes Well-Known Non-Profit CEO to BoardHala Moddelmog

FleetCor Technologies appointed Hala Moddelmog to its Board of Directors. An accomplished operating executive and non-profit CEO, Moddelmog has served in President and CEO roles for more than 20 years. Moddelmog served as President of Arby’s Restaurant Group, held the CEO position with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and is currently the first female CEO of the metro Atlanta Chamber.

TCS Independent Director Retires from Board 

Tata Consultancy Services said independent director Vijay Kelkar has stepped down from the board upon reaching the retirement age set by the IT services company. Kelkar, a Padma Vibhushan award winner, is an Indian economist and academician. He has been on the board of TCS since 2010. 

Microsoft Appoints New VP for Its Asia Pacific Operations

Microsoft appointed Andrea Della Mattea as its new VP of its Asia Pacific operations. Andrea Della Mattea joins Microsoft from Insight Enterprises. As the new VP of the Asia Pacific region, Della Mattea will lead Microsoft's business across the region, including over 2,000 employees and more than 11,000 Microsoft certified partners.

GE Names John Flannery as CEO as Jeff Immelt Steps DownJeff Immelt

General Electric announced that Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt, 61, will be stepping down. John Flannery, 55, current president and CEO of GE Healthcare, has been named CEO. Immelt will remain chairman of the board through his retirement from the company at the end of the year. Flannery will take over as chairman of the board next year.

SAP Announces Newly Expanded Responsibilities of Key Executives    

Robert Enslin and Bernd Leukert will shift and expand their portfolios as members of the Executive Board of SAP. The Supervisory Board of SAP has named Adaire Fox-Martin and Jennifer Morgan to the Executive Board. In addition, two new leadership assignments were announced for current EMEA President Franck Cohen and SAP Cloud Platform President Bjoern Goerke. Cohen will become chief commercial officer and Goerke CTO.

IBM Appoints New Chief Digital Officer for India & South Asia

IBM has appointed Nipun Mehrotra as chief digital officer for India & South Asia, and the appointment comes with months of Bob Lord, IBM's first ever chief digital officer, being charged with bringing together the digital business group (DBG). Over the past two years, as the VP for strategy growth initiatives, Mehrotra led IBM's transformational strategy across several areas in Asia & India.

Qualcomm Goes through CTO ShuflleDr. James H. Thompson

Qualcomm announced that Dr. James H. Thompson, EVP of Engineering, Qualcomm Technologies, has been appointed to the additional position of CTO. Matt Grob, EVP, Qualcomm Technologies and CTO, will transition to the role of EVP of technology, Qualcomm Technologies.

June 6, 2017

Welcome to our CEO Turnover Newsletter. This newsletter covers open CEO roles and latest appointments in the tech sector in the month of May 2017.

The average length of time the CEO searches have been open is 5 months, up from 3.8 months earlier this year. There is little variance across geographies.

A little bit of Vell news: we are announcing our new website... it has been a long time coming! Do check it out....  www.vell.com. Feedback is greatly appreciated. First of each error found will get a Vell trinket!

GE Witnesses Leadership Switches in TechnologyMonica Caldas

Monica Caldas, currently CIO for GE Transportation’s global services and digital solutions teams, will take over as CIO for the entire unit. GE Transportation’s CIO Nancy Anderson moved to the CIO role at GE Power.

Conifer Health Solutions Appoints Chief Compliance Officer

Conifer Health Solutions announced that Daniel Feldman has joined its senior leadership team as SVP and chief compliance officer. Prior to joining Conifer Health, Feldman held various leadership positions at Dean Foods Co. in Dallas, serving most recently as VP, chief litigation counsel and chief compliance officer.

Welcome to the Vell Leadership Update 45^th monthly edition, for the 30 days ending May 15, 2017.

We’ve seen a lot of shakeups this past month, as 83 new heads of technology have stepped up, including new CTOs, CIOs, tech & ops execs and CISOs. Quite a few new tech executive roles have opened up, as well.

Cognizant Goes Through Board Changes

Cognizant announced that Betsy S. Atkins has been elected to its Board as new independent directors. Atkins has been the CEO of venture capital firm Baja and was previously Chairman and CEO of Clear Standards.  

Zurich Insurance Group Appoints BofA Technology Leader to BoardCathy Bessant

Zurich Insurance Group announced that its board has elected Bank of America's Chief Operations and Technology Officer Cathy Bessant as a director. In her role at Bank of America, Bessant oversees about 95,000 employees and contractors in 35 countries in the bank's global technology and operations group. Bessant previously chaired the Charlotte Chamber and the Foundation For The Carolinas.

SAP Announces Newly Expanded Responsibilities of Key Cloud ExecBjoern Goerke

SAP Cloud Platform President Bjoern Goerke will become CTO. As CTO, Bjoern Goerke will advance the company's technology strategy and serve as a key external spokesperson.

Cognizant Goes Through Board Changes Betsy S. Atkins

Cognizant announced that Betsy S. Atkins has been elected to its Board as new independent directors. Atkins has been the CEO of venture capital firm Baja and was previously Chairman and CEO of Clear Standards.  

Kleiner Perkins’ Chief Product Officer Resigns from Amazon BoardWilliam B. Gordon

William B. Gordon, 66, resigned as a director of Amazon after fourteen years on the board. Gordon stepped down so he could provide consulting services to the company for two years. Gordon is currently the Chief Product Officer at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Bing also leads KPCB’s sFund, the investment initiative to fund and build applications and services that deliver on the promise of the social web.

Apple Hires Shiva Rajaraman to Boost its Video and Music StrategyShiva Rajaraman

In a bid to boost its video and music strategy, Apple has hired former YouTube and Spotify executive, Shiva Rajaraman. Rajaraman spent 8 years at YouTube, working to secure licensed content from companies like Disney for streaming.  After his tenure at YouTube, Rajaraman spent two years at Spotify working on its video and podcasting efforts, licensing content from Time Warner, Disney and NBC.