Top 10 Pioneering CEOs to Follow in 2022 | CIOLOOK

VOL 04 I ISSUE 12 I 2022

Top 10

CE s to Follow in 2022

Innovative Viewpoint Creative Ways of Marketing

Empowering Digitalization The Power of Data Founder CEO

RxSense

An Innovative Trailblazer Re-Envisioning Pharmacy Bene ts

EDITOR’S NOTE Pioneers: Creative and Imaginative

I

n my opinion, we take leadership for granted, assuming that we all understand what it entails and what a strong leader looks like.

Some define leadership as having business acumen, such as setting a company’s vision or achieving its objectives. Others concentrate on human characteristics such as empathy, humility, and variety. If you ask people what authentic leadership means, every response would be unique, but they are all correct in their sense.

Every leader has their theory of leadership, which determines how they lead their company’s culture and direction. As the leaders themselves change, so does the definition of leadership. New leaders bring newer leadership approaches, which impact the broader culture and personnel.

So, who is a leader here? Throughout history, there have been many leaders who were vicious and conquerers. Is that enough to make them leaders? I believe a leader guides others by motivating proper factors and positively influencing others around them.

A leader understands how things may be bettered and rallies others to help them achieve that goal. Leaders can strive toward realizing their goals while also prioritizing people. To be effective, leaders must be sympathetic and connect with others and be able to motivate others.

Leaders do not have to come from the same family or walk in the same footsteps. Future leaders will be increasingly varied, bringing a diversity of viewpoints with them. Others may, of course, disagree with my definition. The most crucial thing is that organizations’ internal definitions of leadership are consistent.

Top 10

CE s to Follow in 2022

If this is what leadership means, then how is it different from pioneering leadership? A pioneer was the first to do something and paved the way for others. They may or may not be in the lead right now. In contrast, a leader is a person who is currently leading in an area and making way for others to follow.

Pioneers are creative and imaginative. To come up with something original and explore a field that hasn’t been explored before takes courage and confidence. Other characteristics that pioneers possess are persistence and commitment. They make sacrifices and work for a cause as the first in a field, and they work and study until they find what they’re seeking.

In this edition of “Top 10 Pioneering CEOs to Follow in 2022,” CIO LOOK has identified such influential, pioneering leaders.

To acquire insight into the area, read the articles of our editorial staff and the CxO viewpoints of some of the industry’s leading executives.

Happy Reading!

Sonali Dhiwar

Sonali Dhiwar

c

COVER STORY

o n t e n t s

08

Rick Bates

An Innovative Trailblazer Re-Envisioning Pharmacy Benefits

article

20

Transformative Approach Seize the Opportunity

Leader's Viewpoint Keeping It Human

David Meltzer

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Delivering a Lot of Value by Making a Lot to Share a Lot

24

Janet Schijns Exemplifying Visionary and Thoughtful Leadership

Mathieu Gorge

28

A Seasoned International Security Expert

36

Sibongile Sambo A Dedicated and Aspiring Business Individual

Valerie Vacante

Bringing Emerging Technology Products to Life

40

CXO

32

Pooja M Bansal Editor-in-Chief CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Executive Editors Sourabh More Alex Spellman

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April, 2022

Featured Person

Company Name

Brief

David Meltzer Co - Founder

David Meltzar Enterprises dmeltzar.com

With over 30 years as an entrepreneur and executive, David Meltzer utilizes his inner-circle relationship capital and situational knowledge to create a value-based consulting model that focuses on guaranteed quantitative value.

Janet Schijns CEO

JS Group jsgnow.com

JSG specializes in creating impactful indirect go-to-market strategies for tech firms.

Jim DeVries CEO

ADT adt.com

ADT has made the security of our customers our top priority.

John Proctor CEO

Martello Technologies martellotech.com

Martello Technologies provides digital experience monitoring (DEM) solutions that monitor the performance of cloud collaboration and productivity tools to give enterprises insight into the user experience.

Mate Rimac CEO

Rimac Automobili rimac-automobili.com

Rimac Automobili is a leading electric hypercar brand that designs, engineers, and produces the next generation of performance cars.

Mathieu Gorge CEO

Vigi Trust vigitrust.com

VigiOne enable organisations to achieve and maintain compliance with legal, industrial and security standards and frameworks.

Rick Bates Founder & CEO

RxSense rxsense.com

RxSense is a health technology company.

Ron Saslow CEO

Hu-Friedy hu-friedy.com

HuFriedyGroup, a global leader in dental instrument manufacturing, infection prevention and instrument reprocessing workflows.

Sibongile Rejoyce Sambo Managing Director

SRS Aviation srsaviation.co.za

SRS Aviation strives to become the dominant player in the Aviation Industry.

Valerie CEO

Collabsco collabsco.com

Collabsco is a strategy + innovation firm that collaborates with global brands and startups to create solutions for growth.

Rick Bates Founder CEO

RxSense

C OV E R S TO RY

Rick Bates An Innovative Trailblazer Re-Envisioning Pharmacy Benefits

We are forward-thinking, experienced health and technology industry leaders building elegant solutions that simply work.

N

early one quarter of all healthcare expenditures in the U.S. are considered “waste,” and contributing to this, much of the healthcare industry is reliant on decades old technology to manage pharmacy benefits. Informed by his own experience in the PBM industry and driven to create solutions, Rick Bates founded RxSense in 2015 with a vision to disrupt the pharmacy benefits ecosystem, ultimately improving healthcare outcomes.

me identify market weaknesses and opportunities to build solutions that competitors didn't offer. After we sold Catalyst Health Solutions, it put me in a position where I could identify business opportunities in the marketplace. This enabled me to understand what I wanted to build when I founded RxSense.

The founder and CEO of RxSense joined CIO Look for an interview to talk about opportunities in the PBM industry and how his high-growth healthcare technology company is delivering enterprise solutions to reinvent how businesses manage pharmacy benefits.

Our business is focused on delivering industry-leading solutions for pharmacy benefits and prescription cost savings. RxSense is a disruptive innovator in its space – our cutting-edge cloud-based enterprise platform empowers organizations with the technology to take control of their own pharmacy benefits, ultimately bringing greater transparency, operational efficiency and financial value to our clients. The RxSense mission is to be the best product manufacturer in the PBM ecosystem, delivering automated technology solutions for pharmacy benefits. We are simplifying this industry and building the tools that will result in lower costs and better health outcomes.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at RxSense. What challenges did you have to overcome to reach where you are today?

I spent much of my career at large, publicly traded healthcare companies focused on revitalizing business divisions or underperforming assets and turning them into growth engines. This included reinventing value propositions and positioning our services as unique solutions in the marketplace. Those experiences helped

Whether you’re an established Pharmacy Benefit Manager or just starting out, RxSense will transform your business.

Tell us something more about RxSense, its mission and vision.

Our vision is to enable our partners to provide the lowest prescription drug costs to their plan sponsors and employees. We’re able to do this by leveraging proprietary algorithms that push information to our customers and their members, enabling them to make the best decisions about benefit design and retail partnerships.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the healthcare niche through your expertise in the market.

I believe the greatest impact we’ve had has come through the deep insights we have into consumer behavior. We have studied price elasticity at the consumer level and at the drug level. We have built pricing algorithms that allow us to offer the lowest cost of goods and improve adherence for the millions of members we serve.

Describe the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

We’ve created a culture that promotes collaboration and empowers our employees to create solutions.

We’re accountable to eachother and our customers, and we bring an urgency to continually innovate to meet our customer needs and to be disruptive in the marketplace. We are looking at our industry through a different lens and expect our employees to act as inspiring innovators. It’s the commitment from our employees and their dedication to innovation and building best in class solutions that is the bedrock of our company’s success.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

We are a technology provider with the most modern and comprehensive enterprise platform in the industry.

I don’t view an enterprise platform solution as a utility in this space, I view technology as a business enabler and differentiator that drives lower costs, improves clinical outcomes, and creates more predictability across the marketplace. The machine learning and AI

tools we are building across drug pricing, clinical programs and our retail pharmacy networks will reinvent the mid-market PBMs, as well as other entities who partner with us.

If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the healthcare industry?

We are working to remove the black box of drug pricing in the PBM industry. Our intent is to bring full visibility to the actual cost of goods for all of our customers. We are a fee-based business and believe in 100% passthrough of our market position to our customers.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in the healthcare industry? How is RxSense preparing to be a part of that change?

The prescription drug marketplace is ripe for disruption. I believe the market is moving and will eventually become 100% cash pay for all drugs at retail and mail. There will be a subset of very expensive brand

drugs and all specialty drugs that will either be insured or reinsured but this change will eliminate the markup on 90% of drugs that people purchase.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run and what are your future goals for RxSense?

We’re redefining the pharmacy benefits ecosystem. I believe we’re going to be the leading product manufacturer in the marketplace, continuing to build innovative solutions for our customers and potential partners.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the business sector?

Nothing ever goes as planned. You have to keep finding new solutions, move quickly and keep showing up. You also have to be incredibly passionate about your business idea and surround yourself with great people.

Why should a PBM or an organization that aspires to be their own PBM partner with RxSense?

I believe operational efficiency is table stakes for prospects considering a new platform; the real benefit of partnering with RxSense is to obtain full visibility into cost management and improving clinical performance/efficacy. I think the entirety of the business should be automated and we can enable that, as a data management company that leverages everything off of one single comprehensive platform.

It’s one thing to change a formulary within minutes on our platform – which is fantastic – it’s another thing to change a formulary and run pricing scenarios so you understand exactly what the impact and the benefit of that change will be. It’s these reasons that clients are continuing to realize the tremendous value we can bring and why I think we have a huge opportunity for our technology to redefine the pharmacy benefits space.

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David Meltzer Delivering a Lot of Value by Making a Lot to Share a Lot

T

Meltzer Enterprises take on is aligned with its values, which are gratitude, empathy, accountability, and inspiration, and that is something that is very attractive for potential partners.

he greatest motivating force in the lives of great leaders is to make a lot to share a lot. They are not driven by materialistic greed, but they are fueled by the highest values such as love, compassion, servitude, gratitude, empathy, accountability, effective communication, and contribution spirit. Leaders driven by such high values can do more for the world than those who are simply motivated by materialistic greed.

David Meltzer is one such business leader who is driven by such highest values. He is the Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and Founder of David Meltzer Enterprises. His life's mission is to empower over 1 billion people to be happy! This simple yet powerful mission has led him on an incredible journey to provide one thing — VALUE.

Building Positive Habits The biggest challenges that David has faced throughout his career all boil down to one thing: human nature. He says that our nature is to live with an ego-based consciousness, something that we all have to work to combat. He says that we are also inconsistent by nature, which is why David is an advocate of creating a “habit machine,” or a system to help one build positive habits. He says that when one can do something consistently and persistently, one will be exponentially more successful.

Living by Values and Empowering Others

Being Consistent and Transparent

In his 30's, when David experienced a lot of success, he became entitled and lost touch with the values that had helped him to be successful in the first place. It wasn't until he was forced to declare bankruptcy and nearly lost his family that he puts a renewed focus on the values of gratitude, empathy, accountability, and effective communication. And he has made it his mission to connect to others through those values and empower them to be happy. Every project that David

David states that consistency and transparency are what separate a leader from an impactful leader. He says that when leaders are consistent, their team knows what to expect every day in the office (or working remotely). David says that when leaders are transparent, particularly in times of change, their team does not feel as much stress and are more likely to be

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effective communicators. He considers another aspect of making an impact on others comes from being willing to plant trees that one will never sit under, which means empowering others with no expectation of getting something in return.

David Meltzer Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and Founder of David Meltzer Enterprises

Ability to Adapt to Unprecedented Times

Empowering Entrepreneurs Worldwide David's team was quick to adapt to a virtual working environment that pandemic has fostered, and, in fact, David would say that his organization's productivity and efficiency has increased over the past year. He states that the organization adapted some of the

‘‘

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2020 was a time of forced innovation and adaptation, which has certainly been true of David and his brand. He has seen his personal brand skyrocketing in recent months, in large part due to David's understanding of traditional and digital marketing. Apart from the many accolades that he has earned recently, such as being named one of the Best Employer in Sports 2019 by Front Office Sports, a Top 100 Business Coach by renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith or being recognized at the Super Bowl as the MVP (Most Valuable Philanthropist), some of his biggest recent successes have been because of his ability to adapt to the pandemic. In 2020, David launched several new livestreamed shows during the pandemic including 2 Minute Drill, which evolved into a television show on Bloomberg and Amazon Prime that airs in more than 100 million homes around the world and is preparing to film season two.

The four principles of gratitude, empathy,

accountability, and effective communication in

everyday practice allow David to live by his

mission to “make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.

things it was already doing (such as his podcast “The Playbook” and organization's Friday Training sessions) for the digital realm in order to provide as much values as possible to others for free. David Meltzer Enterprises also launched new online coaching groups and even created David's new TV show on Bloomberg and Amazon Prime, called 2 Minute Drill, to help empower entrepreneurs worldwide to master the art of the pitch.

Approach of Kindness It may seem unusual, but David believes that kindness is one of the keys for any business or leader to thrive. He states that what's most important is to be kind to one's future self, meaning that one's actions today will have an impact in the future, so it is best to approach every situation one is faced with from a standpoint of kindness.

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Giving Back to Society As David mentioned, he is on a mission to empower over 1 billion people to be happy, and giving back is a large part of that. He serves as Chairman of the Board for the Unstoppable Foundation, which works to bring sustainable education to children and communities in developing countries, and even had 50 birthday parties around the world for his 50th birthday to raise money for Unstoppable to build leadership and community centers in Africa.

In addition, David serves as Chief Chancellor for Junior Achievement University, and JA is one of the world's biggest non-governmental organizations, empowering aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide.

Ensuring to Evolve Continuously David states that the most important thing for any business leader is to ensure that one's business' doors open tomorrow. He adds that succeeding in business is about evolution and not revolution, and it is impossible for one's organization or idea to evolve if one is not operating.

SEIZE THE

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s they say, “If opportunity does not knock your door, build the door”. Let’s justify this quote through this article in the context of business leaders.

A business leader realizes that with his/her creativity and vision the business can unleash opportunities and make things happen. He or she drives new products, services, new business models and innovate the ways of working. Being a business leader, broadening the diverse pools is meaningful to the business. Embracing the change by working with different people and perspectives with different backgrounds and knowledge is important to drive innovation and growth.

We are in the digital world of innovation where entertainment, living, and learning share the global stage of connection. It is going to impact the way people interact and connect in the physical world. When we talk about innovation and technology, we are working continuously to build a better world for all of us. For business leaders, there is always room for learning and improving their companies with these technological tools like AI, IoT, Cloud, Robotics.

In the Depth of Leadership Ultimately it is all about passion and belief to empower the community and being confident about the business concepts. There are a lot of leaders right now providing opportunities and they continue to build the doors of opportunities with the help of their qualities.

A Challenging Journey The challenge for business leaders has been creating and connecting people with the physical and digital worlds. Unveiling technology for growth creates business partnerships, market opportunities, connect communities, and encourages people to explore out.

Other challenges also include learning how to grow the business as an entrepreneur. Business leaders have to navigate through different roles and responsibilities, and they create new opportunities solving complex problems.

Those who practice such impactful leadership qualities deliver to achieve the goal of the organization. A good business leader inspires and encourages to lead the organization to new levels of success. As a business leader, one’s growth is based on the performance of the team. They use their intelligence to outplay the competition. He is the specialized person creating the impact in the organization.

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Transformative Approach

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He is the go-to person for all the team members of the company and with his deep expertise he helps to strategize the plans to achieve tangible growth. Once he develops the legacy of success in the industry with his skills, he can ensure digital dominance and become a preferred choice over every other leader to achieve growth.

about growing together and this quality will transform the industry and the world as a whole.

This is the most underestimated trait of leadership.

Business leaders are well aware that if they really want to bring a change, they have to be empathetic. There is always a way of working out things through technology, but it is constrained to business only. Coming out as a true leader, learning, and respecting people will build one’s reputation. It allows one to address the problems and issues of the people. Business leaders know their business, market, and customers, but what is important is to know your people and a desire to mentor them with the opportunities and achievements.

The quick and adaptive business leaders have increased their productivity through the virtual working environment because of the pandemic. They introduce the digital realm in order to provide value to the people along with new digital coaching groups, making the environment positive.

Know It Before You Blow It Our actions today will impact the future and only kindness and empathy towards each other with help to face every problem in our life. So, an empathetic business leader feels it is his responsibility of giving back to society. There is so much more to do for the people and the environment. Above all, the important thing is to build that door of opportunities for himself and open it for others. Succeeding in business is all

The Shining Message Finally, in a world where almost everything is transforming, the journey for business leaders also goes through digital transformation. The bottom line - the real leader knows how to get the stuff done. For them, the greatest motivation lies in creating opportunities, as they are not driven by the materialist world.

For them, the highest motivation is gratitude, empathy, and contributing to the success of the team members and the organization. It is the difference between consistency and inconsistency that separates from an ordinary leader to an impactful leader. The best aspect of making an impact on others is by empowering others with opportunities and no expectation of getting something in return.

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JSchijns anet

Exemplifying Visionary and Thoughtful Leadership

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mpactful leadership is about creating a positive environment with a purpose that matters, a plan that delivers, and results that achieve your goal.

Those who practice impactful leadership know that it is critical that the team embraces the problem or opportunity ahead, helps develop the solution, and internalizes the approach to win. A CEO must be a leader who inspires, encourages, and drives the teams to results. In order to lead organizations to new levels of success, they need to be decisive and committed to challenging the status quo. They earn trust with their teams by actively listening and showing compassion.

And they do it all with a sense of humor.

“

JS Group specializes in creating impactful go-to-market strategies for tech firms in the digital normal. We are the answer when you want to achieve record growth.

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Janet Schijns is one such influential leader. As the CEO of channel and go-to-market consultancy JS Group, she challenges her teams to bring their “A game” to every engagement, demonstrating trust in their expertise and placing focus on their strengths. The result is a firm that’s innovative, results-oriented, and hugely influential. Janet’s motto? Play to win or don’t play at all.

Services Officer, but throughout her career in corporate America, she always longed to get back to her entrepreneurial roots. In 2019, she came full circle and re-launched JS Group so she could apply the lessons she had learned leading some of the largest businesses in the world to grow her own firm while helping the technology industry achieve record growth.

Yearning to Be an Entrepreneur The journey to being a CEO has been a circular one for Janet. Over 20 years ago, when she saw most tech companies struggling to identify their real value propositions to end users, she launched her career as a tech consultant. In 2008, Motorola snapped her up as VP of Global Channels. She served at Verizon as Chief Channel Officer and Office Depot as EVP Chief

Leveraging Strengths As a female leader, your career is always managed on two planes: your actual role and how that role is

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perceived by others internally. Early on, Janet learned to leverage her strengths as a female leader like empathy and collaboration to outplay her competition.

She used these strengths to encourage cooperation between teams when she saw them wasting time and month with internal competition. Infighting costs businesses billions of dollars and keeps them from being able to reach market leader status. Under Janet’s watch, teams learned to play together—and play to win.

Having a Proven Value What advice does Janet have for aspiring leaders?

Know your value—and charge for it. Don’t start with a vague plan of trying to be everything to anyone. That will only lead to slow and low results both in your consultations and in your fee structure. Being a specialist with a proven value will propel you to success. Take the time to map what it is you offer, how you charge for it and then put that offer out in the market – stand by it and you will win.

first. This turned out to be a prescient move that served the firm well when the pandemic hit as it was almost a full year ahead of the market in terms of its digital offerings, and it showed in JS Groups 2020 growth.

Janet also invested in making sure its teams were safe; she cancelled attendance at events and in-person meetings well before much of the industry admitted to itself that the risks were not worth the benefits.

Creating Wins for Technology Companies JS Group is known for its thought leadership, its deep channel expertise, and having an action-oriented approach that’s focused on driving both near- and longterm results. The firm specializes in creating impactful indirect go-to-market strategies for tech organizations.

It creates strategic wins for technology companies through the development of modernized channel frameworks, digital sales and marketing programs, and advanced training. JS Group has built multiple 5-star award-winning channel programs for F100 technology firms that span the channel ecosystem, ranging from multinational enterprises to small and midsize organizations, including early-stage startups.

Achieving Tangible Growth JS Group provides go to market, channel, marketing and sales consultation and programs primarily in the technology industry. It has deep expertise in designing strategies and plans that work to achieve tangible growth. Because its team has a long legacy of success in the industry as well as the skills to ensure digital domination, it is the preferred choice for firms looking to achieve growth. Finally, in a world where almost every firm is using technology as their primary route to market, it has excelled in its ability to offer programs that deliver leads and sales in what is for many a new environment. As an example, JS Group has launched a social selling program in late 2019 that has delivered hundreds of millions in leads since launch. The bottom line? JS Group is real, it gets results, and it knows its stuff.

Embracing Digital Normal Back in 2019, JS Group committed to a strategy of what Janet calls Digital Normal, changing its go-to-market, consulting focuses, and program delivery to be digital

Being Charitable Janet understands the importance of supporting those in the world who haven’t been as fortunate as she has.

JS Group supports two charities that are critical to its communities. Project Self-Sufficiency works with single mothers and those at risk in the community to obtain the skills, support, food, and programs needed to break the cycles underpinning poverty. The Elle Foundation focuses on providing final wishes to children who are faced with a terminal diagnosis, providing a final moment of comfort for them and their loved ones together.

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Mathieu Gorge A Seasoned International Security Expert

W

Board, an international security & compliance thinktank.

here is your data & how does it flow? Who are the stakeholders & what regulations and standards are you subject to? Founded by Mathieu Gorge in 2003, VigiTrust has been answering these questions to international clients in the healthcare, financial services, retail, and government sectors for over 20 years.

Aims to Deliver Innovative Projects The security and compliance sector evolves very quickly at the best of times, so Gorge pro-actively and diligently keeps his finger on the pulse at all times. He does this through the VigiTrust Global Advisory Board which gives him amazing insight into what's happening in the industry from a technology, regulation, and research perspective.

A Regular Speaker at International Conferences Mathieu Gorge is the CEO and Founder of VigiTrust which he created in Dublin. He is an established authority and speaker on Cyber security, Risk Management & Compliance with more than 20 years’ international experience.

Right now, a lot is going on in Machine Learning, AI, and Quantum, not forgetting blockchain. VigiTrust is involved in a few innovation projects with research partners globally and aims at delivering new innovative solutions to clients & partners at all times. Gorge is also on the board of several tech companies and part of working groups within the security & compliance community. This allows him to keep learning at all times and to extend his network.

Gorge’s areas of expertise include PCI DSS, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, VRM, and ISO 27001. He has been involved in payment security for more than 20 years and has worked with many security working groups and associations in the US and EU. He is a regular speaker at international security and compliance conferences such as RSA, ENISA & ISACA.

Passionate About Data-Security Gorge studied languages, marketing and law. He never once studied IT or compliance. However, he was fortunate to work for companies whose leaders were passionate about security, and having caught the bug, he developed a keen interest in data security, a subset of the security market. Things grew from there, and Mathieu remains passionate about data security, risk management, and compliance.

Gorge was the President of the French Irish Chamber of Commerce in Dublin from 2017-2019 - he remains on the Executive council and as chair of the ICT working group. Mathieu has also served as the Chairman of InfoSecurity Ireland and was an Official Reviewer for ANSI (US). He is the founder of the PCI DSS European Roadshow, which has been running since 2011. He is also the Chairman of the VigiTrust Global Advisory

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Focusing on Core Solutions The current global crisis is unprecedented, and like most organizations VigiTrust had to learn as it went along. Whilst the company had a crisis management plan, it had not planned for a crisis that would impact travel, health, finances, and global geopolitics at the same time. So, Gorge and his senior management team started with reducing all costs, focusing on core solutions that were not impacted by the crisis, and servicing the company’s key clients and partners. The organization then decided to explore if there was any opportunity to reposition its solutions to address the new way to perform risk assessment audits. It quickly realized that its clients and partners alike could no longer go on-site to conduct assessments.

As it happens, VigiTrust’s 2020 roadmap for Q4 included the development and deployment of remote assessment capabilities, so it moved that forward to Q2 and Q3 and the company was able to address this opportunity and, incidentally, majorly enhance its partner program and partner onboarding.

A Perceptive and Accomplished Individual Gorge ensures that VigiTrust continues innovating, looking after existing clients, and gaining new markets.

There are a lot of companies doing well right now because they can see new opportunities and they are agile. VigiTrust is one of those, and Gorge is very proud to be surrounded by a team of highly motivated, resilient people, and by very encouraging close people.

“

Gorge suspects that VigiTrust will either be acquired in the next few years or start acquiring other businesses to continue its expansion. From a personal perspective, the founder has just published his first book, The Cyber Elephant in the Boardroom, published by Forbesbooks and it has opened up many opportunities. Gorge is now a regular contributor to US, UK, and French media outlets on the topic of cyber-accountability and cyber security.

Wake up early and believe that today is going to be a good day for your business.

Your passion and persistence coupled with key skills from the team you've assembled will take you, your business and your team and entourage to the next level.

Gorge has also just been appointed VP of the Dublin section of the French Trade Advisors, and he remains involved with the French Irish Chamber of Commerce.

“I think I'll remain involved in those spheres as long as I can continue to add value wherever I am, probably with similar structures but based in the US as Vigitrust builds its US team out of New York”, shares Gorge.

“

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Mathieu Gorge CEO and Founder VigiTrust

Leader's Viewpoint

T

On various occasions, I have been asked for my advice for managing a team remotely. And this answer comes very natural for me. It is all about Keeping it human.

We have to be genuinely interested in the people and their current needs and lives beyond work. Everything being remote has turned listening into one of the essential soft skills. We must acknowledge that as nonverbal cues we typically rely on are lost, we must focus on actually listening. Also, I have learned that a turning on your computer camera makes the difference! People know that if you turned on your camera, you are focused 100% on them and it may sound as an insignificant gesture, but it is a small act of interest that can engage you with people you work with. I also recommend enabling office spaces, maintaining all the biometric security measures and social distancing, to hold face-to-face meetings. Keeping up employee morale is particularly challenging in these uncertain times, but through little acts of listening and actually caring, we will definitely come out victorious. As all leaders are saying, we have less chances to ask employees if they feel good or bad, like before just bouncing in the corridor of the office, and what we know is that a lot of them are struggling for different reasons.

he Secret for Setting a Positive Workplace Culture in a Work from Home Era

Uncertainty has become the new normal. For the past year, working remotely is, as well, the new normal.

Employees all over the world had to cope with this new reality as they keep track on their responsibilities and better manage their life-work balance. As company leaders become more aware of their roles in this pandemic era, it is the perfect time for them, for us, to reinvent the concept of office, and manage to keep fostering a positive work culture. How can we rethink the way we work to benefit our employees as well as our businesses? This is a very complicated question, with no right or wrong answers. My approach has to do with thinking from a leadership perspective. Now, more than ever, leaders need to become emotionally connected with their employees to foresee what may come in the so unclear future.

We need to use technology to innovate and develop more human-like tools to improve our workplace interactions. Emails, social networks, and teleconferencing meetings may feel as enough but they might not be when thinking in setting a positive culture or transmitting values and ways of working… It is about looking for social tools so that people can interact, and, with these tools, we are going to be able to discover the value of making working remotely, work. In the end, it is about how we create real experiences for real people.

How we create activities that go beyond work life and understand that there might be employees that treasure working in a fully remote environment and how there are others seeking for an office space. How I see it, the hybrid model will be the one prevailing in the months and years to come, and it is simply because this model takes into account both perspectives of returning to an office and working from other spaces.

The hybrid way is the ultimate way of achieving the human side and keeping up with the businesses. With this model, leaders and employees, must come up with activities that make work more human, a lot closer, social and fun.

And to keep it human, means to be human as well with the new employees. We have to think about the new people joining our teams. The onboarding process has changed, and it is very important to reinvent methodologies to create and maintain the bonds that would otherwise be generated naturally by being in a face-to-face environment. A remote Buddy Program has shown to be successful. People have other people to come to and express their needs, difficulties, fears and all kinds of emotions. To enable this program has meant to continue passing the culture and the company´s DNA through a word-of-mouth strategy.

In the end, I believe a positive work culture is essential.

You can ask, but how do you maintain that culture being remote? Communication and transparency are the key.

The only way to transmit your businesses DNA is by enabling different communication channels which have different social purposes. The email will still be the formal way to talk about work, WhatsApp will become the platform where good news and milestones are transmitted, Slack can be used as that relaxed tone, communication channel where peers can talk about their lives and vain conversations will be taking place here. All of them matter, not because talking about your wife and children is less important that talking about the closing of a deal, but because they maintain the work-life balance that is vital to succeed both personally and professionally, and it is this balance that we long for in the workplace.

In this work from home paradigm, CEO´s and leaders will be determinant from whatever perspective they will address the situation. Reading a Forbes article regarding stats employers need to know about the workforce, I came across the 2020 study conducted by Growmotely, in which they asked working professionals and entrepreneurs to share their thoughts on the new work from home paradigm, 74% of professionals expect remote work to become standard. These stats show an overwhelming percentage in favor of remote work continuing post-pandemic, so we must stay on top of these trends, to give employees what they expect from us as business leaders.

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KEEPING IT HUMAN

Veronica Crisafulli CSO and Cofounder MO Technologies

Sibongile Rejoyce Sambo, Managing Director, SRS Aviation (Pty) Ltd, & Aero Metals (Pty) Ltd

Sibongile Sambo A Dedicated and Aspiring Business Individual

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envy, and undying passion. Sibongile has since then had a dream that one day she will have access to them in one way or the other.

n the past 27 years, the South African government has made substantial progress in growing the economy, becoming internationally competitive, incorporating greater numbers of people of all races into the economy, and diversifying the economic base.

However, the transformation of South Africa’s economy will not be complete until Women, Youth, and Leaders of tomorrow play a vital role in the mainstream economy.

Sibongile Sambo has spent 17 years at SRS Aviation since 2004, the journey was not smooth at all. It was full of turbulence. Sibongile did enjoy the journey; she learned a lot and she got an opportunity to empower other people in the process. This business has given birth to Aero Metals, where the company manufactures elementary parts for new Airplanes.

Fostering the culture of entrepreneurship is critically important for the country and Sibongile Sambo has outstanding gifts, abilities, and knowledge to go out there and become the best that she can be. She is the Managing Director at SRS Aviation & Aero Metals (Pty) Ltd, taking advantage of the political freedom she is creating economic freedom not only for the company but for the community at large.

Pursuing her Dream and Passion In 2000 Sibongile Sambo registered a company for cleaning, security, and HR services but it never took off because she had no passion at all in mentioned services though she was well trained & gained a wealth of experience in Human Resources. Sibongile searched her soul for what lies within her.

Sibongile’s Journey and Background It all started with a dream and passion for aircraft.

Sibongile Sambo was born in Bushbuckridge, a village where aviation was never part of the vocabulary. She did not have any sophisticated toys and therefore she just played outside on the streets with other children.

She used to stop everything & every time when an aircraft flies by, so she could wave them with eagerness,

The love for aircraft never left her mind. Sibongile started attending air shows and did extensive painstaking research on aviation business opportunities. One day at De Beers Consolidated mines she took a decision that she doesn’t regret, leaving her well-paying job to venture into the unknown world of aviation.

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The only thing Sibongile had was a belief and confidence in herself and the business idea. Sibongile was so confident that she would go out there and be the best she can be in order to be successful. This is when she moved to what she really wanted – the fulfillment of her dreams and passions.

similar challenge - trying to access capital. Secondly, employing and retaining skilled employees has been a challenge because once they are well trained and experienced, they move to bigger organizations.

The company now has emerging subsidiaries in the following areas: -

How SRS Aviation got Funded The team approached banks and different institutions for finance however most decision-makers were on holiday at that time - a week between Christmas & New Year's Day. The remaining gave feedback on the spot saying we would not be financed because aviation is regarded as a high-risk industry. As they had no collateral and no aviation experience and the contract at hand meant nothing to the financiers.

The supply of aircraft components and spare parts for manufactures such as Boeing; Bombardier, Airbus etc. Ÿ It is also an industrialist, manufacturing of aerospace elementary parts and components, planning to expand to Automotive, Rail, and Maritime. The company is called Aero Metals (Pty) Ltd. Ÿ During the 2020 lock-down due to the Covid- 19 pandemic, the company inherited a technical training school that was closing down. This is a strategic organisation for technical training not only in aerospace but in all key industries. The company is called Dyondzo Technical Training Academy. Ÿ

Sibongile Sambo then had to come up with an alternative solution before she could lose the entire contract. Sibongile’s Mother and Aunt borrowed her their pension money, she got so much support from them.

17 years later the team is now experienced and has generated enough revenues that would give comfort to investors. The company has established networks worldwide and has managed to break through an untapped Aviation industry.

Contribution and Recognition Sibongile Sambo and her team have always been involved in Aviation awareness programs, empowering the youth about career and business opportunities in the industry. The organisation has produced pilots, people who never even thought they would have access to an aeroplane.

A Motivational Leader Sibongile Sambo likes open and inclusive leadership. It is important that the colleagues and employees share the vision with the leaders of the organization. She acknowledges that different situations require a different style of leadership. As a leader, she needs to be agile and respond to situations without procrastination. She is indeed, a future Leader.

Since 2006 to date, the company has won several accolades both locally and abroad. The organisation has gone through its own share of challenges. It has crossed the oceans and rivers full of challenges and is now still crossing streams of challenges. The team has become stronger and wiser.

Challenges and Growth Aerospace is capital intensive and access to financial capital is required. Therefore, the biggest challenge was securing finance for the business. Sibongile faced a

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To reach for my dreams and conquer the challenges; I will dare to be different; and with proper guidance and direction and with God on my side, nothing is impossible

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Valerie Vacante Bringing Emerging Technology Products to Life

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o uncover new opportunities, enhance existing product experiences or ensure a presence on a global stage Valerie Vacante, Director of Strategy at LiveArea and Founder of Collabsco, is here to share perspective on innovation and global experiences. In a connected world of entertainment, play, living, and learning, Valerie has pioneered awardwinning digital products and connected experiences across IoT, AR, VR, voice, robotics, and beyond.

high-end office or loads of overhead, just the flexibility to work with brilliant people on interesting products and experiences serving as an independent collaborator to explore, educate, inspire and ignite product innovations, collaborations, and experiences.

Valerie has expanded innovation efforts across the US, Europe and South America helping companies build their portfolios through collaborations with inventors, startups and global brands. She laughs that her house looked like Doc Brown’s house from the film “Back to the Future” with so many connected products, prototypes, and inventions in the works. Collabsco has allowed Valerie to experiment with new technologies, collaborations, and ways of working setting her own boundaries and constraints.

Valerie guides by saying, “When designing a new product or experience ensure there is always room for ongoing testing and learning across all aspects of the business to continuously improve focusing on what’s working and swiftly getting rid of what’s not as possible.”

As Director of Strategy at LiveArea she brings her entrepreneurial instinct and expertise to a creative and collaborative organization where she uncovers cultural trends, next generation innovations, and designs strategies impacting the way people connect and experience in the physical and digital world.

Creating Connected Experiences in the Physical and Digital World The common thread throughout Valerie Vacante's career has been creating and connecting consumer experiences to the physical and digital worlds. She started her career in London, England in the early 00’s, working with an outstanding team to create platforms and technologies that did not exist.

Navigating Challenges Some of the biggest challenges with starting Collabsco were learning how to build a business from the ground up. Valerie always served as an intrepreneur; however, starting as an entrepreneur is very different, you have to learn about the business legalities, structure, operations that are often already in place when you are an intrepreneur. It’s a completely different undertaking.

After returning to the U.S., she worked with a number of digital marketing and advertising agencies serving as a catalyst for growth, uncovering new technologies, business partnerships, and market opportunities. In 2014, she segued into product innovation, primarily focused on emerging technologies and experiences such as IoT, wearables, connected communities, connected play and gaming. After a short stint in a small design startup, a few colleagues encouraged her to venture out on her own so she did.

In 2016 Valerie launched Collabsco. She did not want a

Other challenges in her prior roles coming up in the industry were always not being heard or navigating unnecessary hierarchy and too many rules - she doesn’t

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“THERE IS A HUGE VALUE IN LETTING THE OUTSIDE WORLD IN TO INSPIRE NEW THINKING, LEARNING FROM FAILURE, KNOWING YOUR LIMITS TO PIVOT, AND TAKING ON THE NEXT CHALLENGE AHEAD.” Valerie Vacante Founder, Collabsco Director of Strategy, LiveArea

like rules. Valerie is best when she works with collaborators where the team brings their superpowers or strengths to create new products, services or solve challenges, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Creative, Collaborative and Charismatic

Valerie Vacante's style of leadership is collaborative.

The command-and-control ways do not work in this day and time. They are too constraining, take up too much time and don’t get to the root of real open thinking and problem solving. Valerie believes that people need a clear vision, to have freedom in a framework, to be empowered, supported, and know that they can get what they need to succeed.

“A successful business must have a clear vision and creativity to thrive; it must support wildly creative people, those who are curious and who not only uncover opportunities, but realize how to connect the dots to make it happen - they drive new products, services, marketing, sales, new business models and ways of working,” explains Valerie.

One of the most influential leaders, Nolan Bushnell, the godfather of video games and founder of Atari, has a shared belief. In his book “Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Hire, Keep and Nurture Creative Talents,” he explains the importance of having a “staff of wildly creative people who live as much in the future as the present, who thrive on being different, and whose ideas will guarantee that your company will prosper when other companies fail.”

There is no surprise, after all he hired Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, as well as Valerie Vacante and many other creatives over the course of his five decades in business.

A Relentless Champion Throughout her career, Valerie has launched awardwinning products and experiences that have been featured at CES, SXSW, Wired Live and in such publications as Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, VentureBeat, Forbes, The Drum, VRScout, PCR, ToyNews, and more.

Valerie has worked with some of the world's most innovative brands. Her portfolio includes MercedesBenz, MINI, AT&T, Honeywell, Sleep Number, Dell,

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Vodafone, Nestlé, Hasbro, Mattel, Disney, Bandai Namco Entertainment, WowWee, Virsix Games, MERGE, Pressure Games and Firebolt Games among others.

In 2018, Valerie launched the first-ever connected play landscape; her latest iteration maps over 260 connected experiences, emerging technologies and business growth opportunities featured in VentureBeat, The Drum, VRScout to name a few.

In collaboration with Peter Jenkinson, she also cofounded TechUp, a curated service that showcases innovative products on a global stage as featured at WIRED Live, WIRED Next Generation, CES and SXSW. Most recently, in her role at LiveArea, she is one of the co-creators of LiveArea Scan & Go,™ a patent-pending, web-based, app-free contactless payment technology that, seamlessly integrates into a retailer’s existing website, customer profiles, and loyalty programs, providing opportunities to create more meaningful connections with consumers in store or online, from almost anywhere. She has also architected NXT Intelligence™, a collection of 12 solutions focused on technology, innovation, and brand experiences designed to explore, evaluate and evolve business growth opportunities.

education, and backgrounds are important to drive innovation and growth. With more remote work opportunities companies have a bigger and more diverse pool to choose from,” says Valerie.

Collaborative, Outside-in Perspective and Actionable Insights Valerie Vacante continuously hears feedback from clients who have worked with large management consultancies. The most significant and consistent feedback is that management consultancies overprocess simple challenges, restate the challenge or already known issues instead of providing actionable recommendations. The real opportunity is understanding a client’s business and rapidly uncovering near-term and longer-term opportunities with actionable solutions.

She serves on the SXSW Innovation Advisory Board, as a CES KAPi Awards judge, a global expert to MassChallenge, an international speaker and writer.

She has recently been named one of the Top 25 Women in Tech 2019 and 2020 by PCR magazine, 40/Forty and Mojo Nation 100 – Design Champion.

You can likely find her where creators are designing the future.

At LiveArea, the team is directly addressing these challenges through its new collection of solutions, NXT Intelligence™ which allows the company to provide an outside-in perspective to clients in meaningful ways to their business across technology, innovation, and brand experience. These are strategic exercises that provide actionable insights in weeks, not months.

The Importance of Perspective The biggest change that Valerie Vacante brings to management consultancies include two key concepts: , first, to be more inclusive, broadening recruiting pools, embracing different people and perspectives; , second, to work with real people in ways that is meaningful to their business. “When I was growing up, my parents and grandparents had a bakery and made all sorts of pastries, cakes, and cookies. It doesn’t take a baker or lover of sweets to know that if you only have flour you can’t make a cake, cookie, cannoli or anything. Different people, perspectives,

The team keeps a collaborative approach to work with clients. It doesn’t really pitch, it designs opportunities “with” its clients based on their goals. The organization provides an unfiltered, unbiased perspective.

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