Kate Johnson

How the IBM TechXchange Sticker Hunt Reveals the Power of the Partner Ecosystem? The Sticker Scavenger Hunt at IBM TechXchange offered a powerful lens into IBM’s partner ecosystem. With a water bottle featuring 24 empty hexagons, I spent 2.5 hours engaging with IBM Partners across the sandbox. Each sticker collected told a unique story of collaboration, specialization, and co-innovation. I explored technology like Red Hat and HashiCorp, both acquired by IBM, other solution providers such as Preset and Superset, industry specialists, and service innovators. All working alongside IBM to extend capabilities and deliver complete solutions. Along the way, I earned 1500 points, advanced to 4th place on the leaderboard, and walked away with real insights into 20+ partner integrations. Beyond the hunt, I participated in a hands-on lab on automating watsonx.data intelligence using the Watson Data API. The lab demonstrated how automated data lineage, metadata enrichment, and cataloging can streamline data management, enhance transparency, and empower business users with access to trusted data. This is where IBM’s partner ecosystem plays a critical role, providing the integrations and services that turn data intelligence into action I also attended key sessions including Deloitte’s “The AI Adoption Journey: Insights from the Front Lines,” Dell Technologies’s “IBM and Dell’s Future Computing Today,” and had a great conversation with Visa about their partnership with IBM. I’ll share more from those in an upcoming recap newsletter. The biggest takeaway? IBM is not only a technology provider, bus an orchestrator of an ecosystem. Today's announcement of IBM's partnership with Anthropic to integrate Claude AI into IBM's software portfolio exemplifies this approach perfectly. Partners fill capability gaps, accelerate delivery, bring deep industry knowledge, and co-create solutions that no single vendor could deliver alone. The sticker hunt went beyond collecting badges, mapping the future of enterprise innovation one partner at a time. Learn more about IBM Partner Plus:  https://obvs.ly/helen-yu22  Here is the anthropic partnership press release:  https://obvs.ly/helen-yu23 #IBMPartner #Ecosystem #IBMTechXchange To stay current with the latest trends in #Technology and #Innovation, Subscribe to 👉 #CXOSpiceNewsletter here https://lnkd.in/gy2RJ9xg Or 👉 #CXOSpiceYouTube here https://lnkd.in/gnMc-Vpj

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Transformation at scale is never about technology alone. It is about people, outcomes, and trust. One company that embodies that fully is Pacific Gas and Electric Company. At the SAP for Utilities conference last week, I saw the future taking shape. Many customer stories stood out. But I can’t stop thinking about PG&E’s. They serve approximately 5% of the U.S. population, which is more than 16 million people. When a company of that scale transforms, the impact is massive. Through their transformation with SAP, today PG&E is in the process of: ·     Reducing their risk  ·     Delivering more predictable outcomes  ·     Connecting every part of their business And the outcomes will be clear: ·     Faster customer connections  ·     Streamlined processes  ·     Greater transparency  ·     Better service for those millions of people Energy will be the difference maker in how far the AI revolution goes, given the power needs of the data centers that make it possible.     PG&E’s journey shows how technology can be a big part of the solution and deliver outcomes that matter for every business: smarter planning, faster cycle times, and more capacity for growth. Congratulations to PG&E on the Innovation and Vision Award. I am proud that SAP is part of this journey! #Utilities #DigitalTransformation #SAPInnovation #CustomerExperience #BusinessOutcomes #SAPforUtilitiesConference #EnergyMatters #FutureOfEnergy #PeopleFirst #Trust

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We recently welcomed Jeff Immelt to Automation Anywhere’s board. Jeff spent 16 years as CEO of GE and has been named one of the World's Best CEOs three times by Barron's. His book 'Hot Seat' is a masterclass in leadership that everyone should read. Jeff joined our latest employee townhall to share some wisdom. He has been through it all. 9/11 in his first week as CEO at GE; the 2008 financial crisis; Fukushima; Covid; 33 economic cycles and four recessions. Today, we are seeing a rapid pace of change with AI, mixed with geopolitical volatility and economic uncertainty. Here’s what Jeff shared with us on leadership during times of transformation. 1. When times are uncertain, the most important thing a leader can do is show up. Be present for your team. Be willing to listen. Then work together each day to figure the hard things out. 2. Don’t be afraid to make decisions. Progress is more important than perfection. During transformations, the winners are those that make decisions at the right time. People that lose are those that stay frozen or afraid of being judged. 3. The best leaders learn every day. Jeff says he couldn’t find China on a map in college, but later in his career he taught people how to compete and win in China and thrive with globalization. He’s now doing the same now with AI and going to be taking AI tutor classes for a couple hours each week. 4. Don’t underestimate how AI can transform productivity. People that know how to match technology, with process management, with data and workflows will be priceless. We are still only 5% penetrated in the amount of productivity that can be driven by AI - the potential is limitless. 5. Be irrational about speed. There’s only one speed to work on - and that’s 'today.' Move with urgency during transformations like with AI and automation. But always do it with a people-first approach. Jeff, thank you for sharing your wisdom and encouragement with us. I admire your continued pursuit of lifelong learning. #leadership 

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𝐀𝐈 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐚 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭—𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 Nearly every enterprise is using #AI. But most workforces aren’t ready for it. Axios calls this a hinge moment. Kyndryl reports 71% of leaders say their workforce isn’t prepared. And Scott Snyder & Hreha point to the knowing–doing gap: while employees feel pressure to adopt AI, many hesitate to use it—often silently. From the boardroom, this isn’t just a tech adoption issue. It’s a strategic misalignment—between ambition and accountability, efficiency and empowerment. 𝐈𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲. In my experience across global markets, adoption succeeds when leadership connects the dots between tools, talent, and trust. Here’s what that looks like: ✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 Treat saved time like capital—reinvest it into innovation, AI fluency, or customer impact. ✅ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 Embed AI into workflows. Use templates, reduce friction. Help employees adapt, not improvise. ✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 Co-write AI-first job descriptions. When people shape their future role, they own it. ✅ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 Normalize experimentation. Use peer mentors. Reward usage. Don’t confuse training with adoption. Boards should ask not just if AI is deployed—but how leadership is measuring usage, accountability, and performance lift. That’s governance in action. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? #BoardLeadership #AIAdoption #DigitalTransformation #ExecutiveLeadership

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Huge layoffs at HP over the last couple weeks—first 2,00 people, now 2,500 more. Meanwhile Hewlett Packard Enterprise saw a 16% year-over-year revenue increase. This isn't new: Meta cut 11,000 in 2022 and 3,600 in 2024. Their net income over the last three years? 2022: $23.2 billion 2023: $39 billion 2024: $62.4 billion Google cut 12,000 people in 2023. 2023 net income? $73.8 billion 2024? $100.1 billion This is the same story for many major companies. Layoffs, despite massive profits. But some companies do it differently: Apple didn't do mass layoffs and their CEO took a 40% pay cut. ServiceNow hasn't had layoffs, even though their stock price has struggled. Tata Consultancy Services has a "no layoff" policy. They focus on upskilling employees even during downturns. Publix Super Markets has been around since 1930, employs more than 250,000 people, and has never once had a layoff. They've been on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For list for 26 years. The takeaway? Putting employees first & business success aren’t mutually exclusive.

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Resilience is what drives transformation— in business, in technology, and in nature. And there is nothing more resilient than our planet. In honor of #EarthDay, I’m proud to work for a company, NetApp, that believes sustainability is an opportunity: to innovate, to act, and to support our customers in building a better future. One way that comes to life is through our work with Oxigen Data Center, a data center in Spain that is entirely powered by solar, wind, and renewable sources. They needed to scale without increasing energy consumption and with NetApp’s storage solutions they were able to reduce their energy consumption by nearly 70% creating a high-performance infrastructure that’s both scalable and sustainable. This is how sustainability in action looks: measurable results, smart systems, and real impact. The data tells the story: http://ms.spr.ly/6043S1tT7 To all around the world— happy #EarthDay! 🌍 #CustomerSuccess #NetApp

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During an on-stage interview with CRN’s Jennifer Follett and Steven Burke at #XChange Best of Breed, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said AI provides the channel with opportunities in customer service, software development and enterprise operations. But the real gains from AI, including a 10x improvement in productivity, are a few years down the road. CRN’s Rick Whiting breaks down more key takeaways from the interview:

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Businesses of all sizes are going big with Copilot and agents. Nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies use Copilot, and in the last quarter alone, organizations built more than 400,000 custom agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio. Today, on WorkLab, we’re sharing stories from 31 companies across industries—from The The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. to Newman's Own, Inc. to Holland America Line—using Copilot and agents to optimize costs, grow revenue, and transform their business. Vodafone projects to double or triple the number of requests for proposals its sales team can respond to each week. And Campari Group is cutting marketing campaign copy costs by 18%. https://lnkd.in/gsJPPby9

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Delivering great customer experiences at scale is never simple. For Lenovo, supporting 25,000 enterprise customers meant software support spread across six inboxes and disconnected systems. Agents lacked a single view, customers waited too long, and complexity slowed everything down. Lenovo chose to lead change. Partnering with ServiceNow Expert Services, their teams worked side by side to deploy Now Assist with Technology Provider Service Management (TPSM) globally in just three months. One platform instead of six. AI in the agent’s flow. Resolution times cut by 35 percent. This wasn’t just about technology. It was expertise and collaboration, inside Lenovo and with ServiceNow, that made it possible. Lenovo showed what it means to take complexity head-on and come out stronger. The takeaway is clear. AI doesn’t fix disconnected systems. It delivers when the foundations are strong and the workflows are unified. Lenovo proves it. Learn more about their story: http://spr.ly/6045AafWf Meryl Zucco Stuart Pike

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What won’t change matters just as much as what will! Jeff Bezos once said: “Don’t ask what will change in the next 10 years—ask what won’t.” That mindset deeply shaped my thinking during my time at #Amazon. While we chase innovation and adapt to change, it’s the unchanging expectations—like speed, trust, and value—that should ground us. But here’s the balance: embrace change boldly, as long as it serves what customers will always care about. Here are 3 timeless + timely tips: 1️⃣ Deliver Consistently – Trust is earned by showing up reliably, every time. 2️⃣ Evolve With Purpose – Innovate, but stay anchored in what matters most to your customers. 3️⃣ Respect Time & Attention – Whether through speed or simplicity, this never stops mattering. And even as #AI reshapes how we operate, it’s still the timeless needs—speed, trust, value—that will separate brands that thrive from those that fade. What’s one customer truth you think will never change? 👇 #Leadership #Business #Strategy #Innovation #Culture

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