VELL BLOG

Themes in the Giant Tech Reorgs:

• Acquisitions: Vantiv acquires WorldPay. Sprint/T-Mobile US Merger; failed acquisition of Qualcomm.
• Deals with Investors (activist or not): Akamai, Ericsson, uber.
• Disappointing Results: Micro Focus, BT Group.
• Other: F5 Networks (growth), Nuance (long term CEO transition), Vodafone (surprise), InfoSys (whistle blower).

60 % of the Giant Tech companies promoted CEOs internally, while 40% hired CEOs externally. Cerner is the only company that hired a CEO externally and also made him Chairman. 100% of the newly named CEOs were men. (vs. 90-95% overall in a larger set of tech companies).

Apple Steals Machine Learning and AI Star from Google 

Apple Music Promotes Two

Apple has hired Google's former head of search and artificial intelligence John Giannandrea to lead the company's 'machine learning and A.I. Strategy.

The giant also has appointed International exec Oliver Schusser as VP of Apple Music and international content to oversee its music streaming business, relocating from the UK to California for the new position. With Oliver’s promotion, Apple marketing executive Tracey Hannelly will lead International for Apple music, which services 155 markets. She joined the company in 2007 beginning in Australia and New Zealand.

 Amazon Studios Hires NBC Chief as a New Head

NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke has been named head of Amazon Studios. Salke will oversee all television and film production for Amazon's entertainment arm.

Board Changes

Facebook board: Jan Koum, 41, CEO of WhatsApp stepped down from the board over significant disagreements over privacy issues.

Joining Akamai’s board is Amazon’s CISO - Tom Killalea, 49.

LogMeIn has named Sara Andrews, SVP and Global CISO of PepsiCo to the company’s board of directors.

• Samsung Electronics Announced the Launch of The Samsung Design Innovation Center (SDIC). SDIC, a design lab dedicated to the integration of disruptive user-experiences to product design.
• Microsoft names Rajesh Jha to lead Experiences & Devices as EVP. The word Windows is dropped from the title, but the role includes Windows, Office, third-party applications and devices on an integrated 365 Experience.
• Cisco names Salesforce executive Maria Martinez, 60, joins Cisco as EVP and chief customer experience officer. She’s also held a number of leadership positions at Microsoft, Motorola, AT&T as well as CEO of the start-up, Embrace Networks. 

• Apple has hired Google's former head of search and artificial intelligence John Giannandrea to lead the company's 'machine learning and A.I. Strategy.
• Google appointed veteran programmer Jeff Dean, 50, as the new head of the company's artificial intelligence unit,
• Facebook is making forays into the future with emphasis on technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented/Virtual Reality.

Giant technology companies have had plenty of action with their boards the first half of 2018. This is the second of a two part series of updates.

In this Edition -Tech Boards in 1H2018

• Board Trends
• Board Members Appointed/ Resigning by Functional Role & Gender
• Board Leadership Changes: Companies Combining Chairman/CEO Roles; Companies Naming New Chairmen (non-CEO); Companies Naming New Lead Directors
• CEO Successions: internally and externally sourced
• Board Members Appointed/Resigning by Function: external CEOs/Presidents/GM; CFOs/Audit and Investment Professionals; CIOs/ CTOs. CISOs, Privacy.

Giant technology companies have had plenty of action with their leadership teams in the first half of 2018. This is the first of a two part series:

In this Edition

    Trends for Boards & Exec

• Tech Hot Topics: AI, AR/VR, IoT and many others
• Consumer Experience and Disruptive User Design
• Security, Data Protection and Privacy

    Mammoth Company Changes

    The Big Re-Organizations

Also please look at Part 2 - Tech Company Board Appointment Trends, which will be posted on our blog and on our LinkedIN articles.

We welcome any feedback and insights you may have.

All the best,

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. * Direct: (617) 530-1288

Athenahealth's CEO Jon Bush Steps Down Under Growing Pressure

Cloud-based software platform for medical providers, Athenahealth is in turmoil. CEO and co-founder Jonathan J. Bush, Jr., 49, stepped down as President, CEO and Board Member. He had been replaced as Chairman last year by Jeff Immelt. 

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We endeavor to catalog all open technology CEO roles (as of 5/31/2018) and latest appointments for the month of May 2018.   

The average length of time the searches are open is 5 months, up from 4.7 months last month. There is little variance across geographies. 

Welcome to the 55th Edition of the Open Tech Roles  & Latest Appointements newsletter.  This edition covers the 31 days ending May 17th, 2018. 

Hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Summary and Stats for Tech Exec Roles

Xerox ended a planned $6.1 billion deal with Fujifilm, in which Fuji would take control of Xerox,  and reached a new agreement with activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who have a combined 15% stake at the company and have been opposing the Fujifilm deal. They launched a campaign to stop the merger and oust top managers, including CEO Jeff Jacobson, 58. Jacobson was a particular target as Icahn accused him  of rushing into the Fujifilm deal and acting against board instructions, something that he board denied in April. Jacobson was named CEO January 2017. He had been President and prior to that COO of the Xerox Technology business, and president of Global Graphic Communications Operations joining in 2012. Prior to joining Xerox, he served as Chairman &  CEO of Presstek. 

Facebook has re-organized its ranks in the wake of user privacy issues that has been creating waves across all quarters. The social network’s misuse in the spread of Russian propaganda and disinformation and the more recent Cambridge Analytica scandal have made data privacy and security issues the foremost priority for the social media giant.  

Board Shuffles

Jan Koum, 41, CEO of WhatsApp stepped down from the board over significant disagreements over privacy issues. The company hired heavyweight and Senior Obama Advisor, Jeff Zients, 51. Earlier this year, the company also hired its first non-white director, former American Express CEO, Ken Chenault, 66. More details on the board shuffles are outlined below.

May 3, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We endeavor to catalog all open technology CEO roles (as of 4/30/2018) and latest appointments for the month of April 2018.  

The average length of time the searches are open is 4.7 months, up from 4.3 last month. There is little variance across geographies. 

NCR Names Frank Martire as Executive Chairman and Michael Hayford as CEO

NCR Corporation has named Frank Martire, 69, as Executive Chairman. Martire most recently served as non-executive chairman of FIS till last year. He served as CEO of FIS after acquisition of Metavante, where he served as CEO before the acquisition.

April 17th, 2018

Welcome to the 55th Edition of the Vell Leadership Update for the 31 days ending April 15, 2018. 

• 121 new technology leaders have stepped up, including new CTOs, CIOs, tech & ops execs and CISOs.
• 8 % of these roles were filled by women
• The majority of these roles are filled with people hired externally (77%)
• There are 44 open roles

April 3, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We endeavor to catalog all open technology CEO roles (as of 3/31/2018) and latest appointments for the month of March 2018.  

The average length of time the searches are open is 4.3 months, down from 5.2 last month. There is little variance across geographies. 

Twitter’s Chief Information Security Officer to Leave after Three Years In Role

Twitter’s CISO Michael Coates steps down from his role to launch his own security startup. Coates joined the company in January 2015. He had joined from Shape Security, where he was the Director of Product Security. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Mozilla, Aspect Security and Motorola.

March 18th, 2018

Welcome to the 53rd Edition of the Vell Leadership Update for the 31 days ending February 17, 2018.

• 84 new technology leaders have stepped up, including new CTOs, CIOs, tech & ops execs and CISOs. 
• 14 % of these roles were filled by women
• The majority of these roles are filled with people hired externally (71%)
• There are 41 open roles 

March 1, 2018 

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We endeavor to catalog all open technology CEO roles (as of 2/28/2018) and latest appointments for the month of February 2018.   

The average length of time the searches are open is 5.2 months, up from 4.4 months last month. There is little variance across geographies