Speakers

• Jerry Bartlett
  SVP & Chief Development Officer First Data Corporation
  
  

  Jerry Bartlett
  SVP/Chief Development Officer
  Global Product Development

  As Chief Development Officer, Jerry Bartlett leads the Global Product Development organization, and is responsible for product/application development, testing, delivery and support. This group provides product and application solutions to many of the largest merchants and financial institutions in the world.

  Bartlett joined First Data in May 2007 as Senior Vice President of Technology for First Data Resources (FDR). Prior to that, he oversaw all information technology initiatives, including business technology planning, application development, information and physical security, and IT infrastructure and architecture at TD Ameritrade. After directing the application integration in a key merger at TD Ameritrade, he was recognized as one of ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders based on his leadership in managing risk and execution during the merger.

  Prior to TD Ameritrade, Bartlett led large applications development and database organizations in the St. Paul Company and led multiple significant initiatives as a manager of systems development for the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the Wells Fargo Merchant Services Board and has also served on the Wall Street Technology Association, Board of Directors, NASDAQ Technology Advisory Council, NASD Technology Advisory Council and has regularly been invited as a conference speaker on topics such as Leadership Development, Innovation, IT Governance, IT/Business Alignment and Outsourcing. Bartlett holds a B.S. in Technology and Management from the University of Maryland.

• Ruairi Breathnach
  CIO Oldcastle Materials, Inc.
  
  

  Ruairi Breathnach is the CIO at Oldcastle Materials. Since joining Oldcastle, Breathnach has been integral in developing the infrastructure that has supported the organization’s performance and growth. Most recently, he has pioneered a centralized IT organization creating a unified help desk, a software development team as well as a nationwide IT support team. Through his strong leadership and goal oriented behavior, he has reduced overhead and streamlined operations through the creation of scalable, flexible and sustainable processes and systems. Breathnach has developed a dynamic IT environment focusing on greater alignment with the business.

  Prior to his appointment as CIO, Breathnach served as VP of IT. He began his career with Oldcastle Materials Group in 1994 and has held a variety of positions integrating acquisitions, developing critical business systems and driving value from IT through the strategic use of resources.

  Breathnach holds a bachelor’s in computer science from the University College Dublin. He is currently enrolled in the Goizueta Business School Executive MBA program at Emory University.

• Salvatore Calta Jr.
  VP, Business Transformation IBM
  
  

  Salvatore Calta was named VP of client value transformation in 2009. He was one of the founding members of a new shared service under the CIO, where all business transformation and information technology were combined. In this role, Calta was responsible for nearly half of all business transformation. His team focuses on client facing processes: order to cash, sales and marketing transformation, and configuration. Recently, all of IBM’s Transformation in the CIO has been consolidated under Calta’s leadership, as the business transformation organization. His team includes the services and back office transformation along with client facing transformation.

  Calta’s teams drive value by understanding the complex business challenges facing their clients and delivering the right IT solution. His focus as part of a shared service for IBM is balancing IT requirements with affordability.

  Calta earned a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and is IBM’s partnership executive program contact for the University of Iowa. He frequently briefs clients about IBM’s operations. Calta is a sponsoring executive the Poughkeepsie Site Diversity Council.

• Dr. Curtis A. Carver Jr.
  Vice Chancellor & CIO University System of Georgia
  
  

  Curtis A. Carver Jr. was appointed the vice chancellor and CIO of University System of Georgia in 2010. Prior to his appointment, he served at West Point in a number of positions including vice dean of education, vice dean for resources, associate dean for academic computing and program director. He taught in the computer science department starting as an instructor and culminating as a professor of computer science in 2007. As a military officer, his career spanned 27 years with assignments in positions of increasing responsibility including platoon leader, senior signal officer, company commander, battalion operations officer, division deputy G6 and military mentor.

  Throughout his career, Dr. Carver has been engaged in the active leadership of military, academic, research and service organizations. He is a senior level member in the ACM and IEEE professional societies and continues to play an active role in shaping the national agenda in accreditation, technology and education.

  Dr. Carver’s research interests remain diverse with contributions in the fields of information assurance, adaptive hypermedia, computer science education, simulation and decision-support systems. He is the recipient of numerous national and international honors and awards for military, teaching and research excellence.

• Lee Crump
  Group VP & CIO Rollins, Inc.
  
  

  Lee Crump is the CIO and group VP of business support for Rollins, Inc. In his current capacity, he manages a team of 135 professionals and is responsible for all IT, the program management office and the field administrative support group. Prior to joining Rollins in 2009 Crump spent 10 years as the CIO of Memphis based Terminix International and was named the 2012 Georgia CIO of the Year by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association.

  Crump holds the PMP credential from the Project Management Institute and has a long track record of delivering major systems implementations on-time and on-budget. He was also the Six Sigma Executive Deployment Champion for Terminix. He has spent more than 30 years in IT, equally divided between IT executive management and business consulting.

  Crump is a member of the board of directors for Georgia Junior Achievement. He is also a member of American Mensa, the Project Management Institute, the Technology Association of Georgia, the Georgia CIO Leadership Association, the Association of Telecommunications Professionals, and the Society of Information Managers.

• Teresa Devine
  VP & CIO Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.
  
  

  Teresa Devine serves as Asbury’s VP and CIO. Previously, she served as VP of product development at Bridgevine, Inc., where she led system integrations with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable that powers big-box retailers including Dell, Office Depot, DirecTV and Sears. In addition, she was senior director of IT, overseeing international software development teams. Prior to joining Bridgevine, she spent five years specializing in online business strategies, including search marketing, social media and eCommerce platforms. Devine is an Indiana native, and studied at Indiana University.

• Louie Ehrlich
  CIO, Chevron Corporation & President, Chevron IT Company Chevron Corporation
  
  

  Louie Ehrlich is CIO, Chevron Corporation and President, Chevron IT Company where he is responsible for setting and achieving Chevron's IT strategy and providing IT services worldwide.

  Ehrlich joined Chevron in 1981 as a programmer analyst in New Orleans. After serving in multiple technology positions of increasing scope and import, he was appointed manger of central information services for the Upstream Technology Company, supporting a global internal customer base. He was soon promoted to CIO of Chevron's Downstream Marketing business, followed by Downstream CIO and GM North American Products Company IT, as well as VP of services and strategy and CIO for Chevron's Global Downstream operations.

  Spanning a career of more than 30 years driving technology leadership within Chevron, Ehrlich was promoted in 2008 to his current role due to his broad information technology experience and demonstrated leadership skills spanning the full breadth of Chevron's business.

• Jay Ferro
  CIO American Cancer Society, Inc.
  
  

  Jay Ferro is CIO for the American Cancer Society headquartered in Atlanta. Prior to his leadership role with the American Cancer Society, Ferro served as SVP and CIO for AdCare Health Systems, Inc. where he was responsible for the people, strategy and operations of the nationwide IT group. Prior to AdCare, Ferro was VP and CIO for Chartis Aerospace (formerly AIG Aviation), a leading global aerospace insurer. In addition to his role as AVP of IT with AIG Personal Lines, he was selected as CFO for operations and systems in 2006 and led multiple global IT finance and governance standards initiatives that resulted in millions of dollars in savings for the organization.

  In recognition of his accomplishments, Ferro was selected as Georgia CIO of the Year in 2011, and is currently serving as chair for the Georgia CIO Leadership Association. In 2011 he was elected to the board of directors for TechBridge, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization which helps other nonprofits use technology to improve their capability to serve the community.

• Sheryl Fikse
  SVP ITS & CIO Southwire Company
  
  

  Sheryl Fikse is CIO and SVP of information technology services (ITS) for Southwire Company. She is responsible for all Southwire information and communications systems. ITS delivers business value to Southwire customers and protects the foundation upon which they conduct business.

  Prior to joining Southwire in 2010, Fikse worked with MYTecSoft as general manager for North America and Europe. She has served as SVP of the industrial finance business unit of AT&T Capital Corporation and has a wide range of consulting experience with companies around the world, including Southwire and other top wire and cable manufacturers.

  A graduate of Calvin College, Fikse has completed executive development programs at Columbia University’s Graduate Business School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Fikse was recently a finalist for both GCLA’s CIO of the Year in the global category and WIT’s, Woman of the Year, enterprise category.

• Brian Foster
  Managing Director CEB
  
  

  Brian Foster is a managing director in the Corporate Executive Board’s (CEB) IT Practice where he oversees a global team that provides advice and consultation to a network of more than 2,500 IT leaders, including CIOs, enterprise architects, applications, infrastructure, security and PMO executives. He has written extensively on IT functional management including organizational design, leadership development, strategic planning, IT value communication and service management. He sits on the IT Practice Executive Committee and is a member of the CEB’s Global Leadership Group.

  Foster joined the CEB in 1993 as a research director within the company’s financial services and technology practices. After leaving to attend graduate school, Foster served as director of business development at Excite@Home Corporation, then the largest provider of high-speed cable internet service. Foster re-joined the CEB’s IT Practice in 2001, directing research in The CIO Executive Board and the Enterprise Architecture Executive Council before assuming leadership of all of the CEB’s IT Infrastructure programs in 2006.

  Foster holds a B.A. from Williams College and an MBA from The Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth.

• Liz Gottung
  Senior Vice President & Chief HR Officer Kimberly-Clark Corporation
  
  

  Liz Gottung leads the design and implementation of all enterprise human capital strategies for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, including global compensation and benefits, talent management, diversity and inclusion, organizational effectiveness, and corporate health services.

  Gottung joined Kimberly-Clark in 1981 in a labor relations role at a manufacturing facility in Tennessee. Following positions of increasing scope and responsibility within HR, Gottung moved into line operations management in 1991. She held operational positions in several consumer products manufacturing facilities, and then moved into plant manager roles in the consumer products facility located in New Milford, Connecticut, and the nonwovens facility in Corinth, Mississippi. In 2001 Gottung was named VP of human resources and became SVP in 2002, reporting to the CEO.

  Gottung earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Albany. She serves on the board of the North Fulton Child Development Association, the Compensation and Benefits Committee of the American Heart Association, and was elected to the board of directors of Louisiana Pacific Corporation
  in 2007.

• Ernie Johnson, Jr.
  Studio Host Turner Sports
  
  

  Two-time Emmy award-winner Ernie Johnson, Jr. is in his 23rd year as the studio host for Turner's NBA telecasts. He hosts TNT's Emmy award-winning “Inside the NBA” studio show with analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. Johnson serves as the studio host for NBA TV's “Fan Night” and serves as the lead play by play announcer for TBS’ regular season and post season coverage of Major League Baseball, working with John Smoltz and Ron Darling.

  In 2007 Johnson received the first ever honorary John Wooden Keys to Life Award, presented by Athletes in Action, which is awarded to individuals who exemplify Wooden's seven keys to life including character, integrity and faith. Johnson was awarded an Emmy for Best Studio Host/Personality in 2001 and 2006.

  Johnson is a graduate of Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia and was named Outstanding Young Alumnus in 1986.

• Jana Kanyadan
  SVP & CIO Mohawk Industries, Inc.
  
  

  Jana Kanyadan is the CIO and SVP of IT at Mohawk Industries, Inc. In this capacity, Kanyadan is responsible for leveraging technology to achieve Mohawk’s strategic objectives and drive innovation across the global enterprise.

  After earning graduate degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering from Iowa State University, he spent the past two decades growing his leadership skills in technology roles up to the CIO level. His career has been focused in the manufacturing sector, including time with leading global companies such as Cummins, Ingersoll-Rand, Eaton and Ecolab. Kanyadan’s previous roles have included significant manufacturing, engineering and finance assignments. To further enhance his business acumen, he earned an MBA from Duke University.

• Lori Kasserman
  Account Executive, Digital & Social Media Southern Company
  
  

  Lori Kasserman's work is focused on driving the company’s use of social media and developing and delivering digital content for internal and external audiences. In addition to leading the company’s social media program, she is community manager of Southern Company’s enterprise social network and is a founding member of the company’s social media advisory council. Kasserman joined Southern Company corporate communication in 1999 and in 2006 she moved to an internal communication role, supporting various departments and executives including IT and shared services. Since 2011, her focus has been on growing the company’s social and digital media presence.

• Krish Mani
  CIO JELD-WEN, inc.
  
  

  Krish Mani is currently the global CIO for JELD-WEN, Inc. As the first ever CIO for JELD-WEN reporting to the president, he is tasked with developing a global IT shared services team, using his extensive background in the development and implementation of global technology strategy to optimize JELD-WEN’s global IT efforts.

  Mani has 24 years of experience in IT for global manufacturing and supply chain companies. Prior to JELD-WEN, he served as CIO at Remy International Inc., and at Masterbrand Cabinets Inc. where he was instrumental in creating IT Shared services from decentralized business units and driving business alignment and value delivery.

  Mani graduated from University of Mysore, India with a B.E. in electronics and communication engineering and earned his M.S. in industrial technology from Purdue University

• Edwin Marcial
  SVP & CTO IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.
  
  

  Edwin Marcial is SVP and CTO for the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). He has 20 years of experience in the technology industry architecting and developing software systems. He joined Continental Power Exchange (CPEX) in 1996 and in 1998 his technical vision led to the design of an Internet based commodity trading system that would evolve to become the ICE trading platform. In 2000, CPEX became the ICE and the ICE Trading System was launched. Today Marcial leads a team of very talented technologists as they continue to enhance the ICE’s core trading, clearing and data systems and build new applications for the advancement of ICE.

• Joe Massari
  Enterprise Technology Planning Manager Southern Company
  
  

  Joe Massari is manager of enterprise technology planning within Southern Company’s IT organization and is responsible for all aspects of IT planning for Southern Company. He also directs the company’s technology showcase, a facility focused on demonstrating technology and explaining new technology trends. In 2011, he was named the co-lead of the project to define Southern Company’s future customer touch technology strategy, a key component of the company’s smart energy strategy.

• Russ McGuire
  VP, Strategy Sprint
  
  

  Russ McGuire is a leading strategist and visionary in the telecom industry. As vice president of strategy for Sprint, he is responsible for developing the strategic vision and strategic framework for the wireless giant.

  His experience includes more than 25 years in the telecom industry. Prior to joining Sprint, McGuire was chief strategy officer for TeleChoice, a leading business strategy consultancy solely focused on innovative telecom market opportunities. In this role he guided top executives from established and start-up telecom companies in developing core business strategies and market strategies to leverage their unique capabilities into sustainable market positions. McGuire was also highly sought out for his perspectives on the telecom industry as a top conference speaker and as a quoted resource in stories published by leading publications. McGuire has also been a regular columnist for Network World, Business Reform, and Success magazines.

  Prior to TeleChoice, McGuire was vice president of strategic development for Williams Communications, where he was responsible for corporate strategy, new business analysis, and competitive intelligence. McGuire has also founded or co-founded two technology start-ups. He began his telecom career as a software developer for Northern Telecom.

  McGuire is also the author of “The Power of Mobility,” a book about how businesses can prosper in the next technology revolution, published by John Wiley & Sons. His daily blog on these topics can be read at www.law-of-mobility.com.

  McGuire has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and has completed the Advanced Management Program for Telecommunications Executives at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. McGuire also serves in Living Stones Ministries, helping churches leverage modern communications technologies.

• Gregory Miller
  VP & Chief Economist SunTrust Banks, Inc.
  
  

  Gregory Miller is chief economist with SunTrust Banks, Inc. He completed his graduate and undergraduate economics degrees at Florida State University and has been a practicing economist, forecaster, and teacher for more than 30 years. As SunTrust’s chief economist, Miller forecasts the national economy. He advises corporate and bank boards of directors as well as SunTrust clients. He sits on committees charged with interest rate setting, corporate investment, and benefits policy. He is a policy advisor for private wealth and corporate investment banking groups.

  Miller represents SunTrust in business media, including CNBC News, Bloomberg News, Fox Business, Reuters, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Blue Chip Financial Forecast, and other local news media platforms. In addition to his regular SunTrust duties, he is active in the National Association for Business Economics and the Financial Roundtable.

  Prior to joining SunTrust, Miller was on the faculty of the College of Business Administration at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is currently a member and past-chair of the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association, a national group of economists who meet with the Federal Reserve board of governors to discuss the economy and monetary policy.

• Brian Nooney
  Director, Global Growth Strategy Mohawk Industries, Inc.
  
  

  Brian Nooney joined Mohawk Industries four years ago and currently serves as director of sales solutions. Formerly, he served in various roles in finance and sales operations and sales enablement supporting the Mohawk Flooring division. Prior to joining Mohawk, he served as an officer in the United States Air Force in a combination of financial and operational roles.

  Nooney oversees sales enablement and system strategy for sales and marketing, focused on delivering solutions that grow the business. He is also responsible for change management related to the programs he directs.

  He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and business from Virginia Military Institute.

• Bill Richards
  VP of Information Services McKee Foods
  
  

  Bill Richards has worked for 25 years in IT with McKee Foods Corporation, the privately held maker of Little Debbie Snacks, and is currently VP of information services, the senior IT position. After 10 years of teaching accounting, statistics, finance and taxes, a year-long sabbatical with McKee Foods opened his eyes to the enjoyable challenges of IT.

  Richards is responsible for dramatic changes in McKee Foods’ information architecture. The average tenure of his IT staff with McKee Foods is 17 years, resulting in an immensely valuable accumulation of business process knowledge within IT. Richards is the winner of the Robert Beyer Gold Medal Award from Touche, Ross and Company for the highest score on the June, 1980 Certified Management Accountant exam. He has a number of professional certifications including CPA.

  He received his B.S. in accounting from Southern Adventist University and his Ph.D. in accounting from Michigan State University.

• Mark Ryan
  EVP & CIO Travelport
  
  

  Mark Ryan is EVP and CIO of Travelport where he has global responsibility for formulating and executing the company’s technology strategy, including software solutions and applications development. Ryan leads a team of more than 1,250 Travelport technology professionals worldwide. He also oversees Travelport’s joint venture technology operation in Delhi, India, as well as managing an additional 1,000 development staff through relationships with application partners and service providers in Asia, North America and Europe.

  Most recently, Ryan served as SVP and CIO of Matria Healthcare, leading 350 IT professionals supporting 50 facilities located across the USA. Prior to joining Matria Healthcare, he was CTO and a board director of Vodafone Global Content Services. From 1999 — 2001, Ryan was CTO at Weather.com/The Weather Channel, where his initiatives were credited with significantly improving customer satisfaction during severe weather situations and helping to propel weather.com to become the most highly accessed weather web site in the world.

  He has also served as CTO for eBay and spent 18 years with IBM. He was also an executive-on-loan for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Games in the role of chief integration architect.

• Brian Shield
  Former EVP & CIO The Weather Channel
  
  

  Named ‘Georgia CIO of the Year’ in 2004, and winning a Technology ‘Emmy’ Award for his work in television in 2007, Brian Shield’s leadership and commitment to Georgia’s business-technology community was recognized in 2012 when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia CIO Leadership Association (GCLA). For the last 14 years, Shield served as the EVP and CIO of The Weather Channel where he oversaw the technology strategy and organization, including software engineering of industry leading mobile and digital products, operations, broadcast, video and advertising technology, content management and project management.

  Prior to joining The Weather Channel, Shield served as CIO of FTD, Inc. in Chicago, where he was responsible for all IT including their global network reaching more than 125 countries. Preceding his tenure at FTD, he was CTO at the investment firm of Scudder, Stevens & Clark (now Zurich Scudder) and formerly with Wang Laboratories.

  Shield completed his education at Bentley College where he majored in computer science while minoring in management and accounting.

• Jeffrey Sprecher
  Chairman & CEO IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.
  
  

  Jeff Sprecher is a founder of IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), serving as the company’s CEO since 2000 and as the chairman of the board since 2002. Under his guidance, ICE expanded into global markets for agriculture, credit default swaps, emissions, energy, equity indexes and foreign exchange, and extended its business into central clearing. Today, ICE operates three regulated futures exchanges, an over-the-counter credit market and five clearing houses globally. Sprecher’s leadership has been recognized by BusinessWeek, Institutional Investor and a number of other industry publications.

• Jim Stikeleather
  Chief Innovation Officer Dell Inc.
  
  

  Jim Stikeleather is chief innovation officer for Dell Services where his team enables, facilitates and accelerates new technologies, business models and processes to address evolving business, economic and social forces for the company and customers. For more than 30 years, Stikeleather has designed, developed and implemented award-winning information and communications technologies that help businesses and institutions succeed as well as starting and growing multiple companies. He has spoken and consulted internationally on digital infrastructures, evaluation of emerging technologies, and provided strategic guidance on their application to achieve business outcomes. He participates in international technology standards bodies, has multiple book and industry-article contributions to his credit and advises a number of technology incubators. Additionally, Stikeleather holds two patents. He came to Dell via Perot Systems and Meadwestvaco. Perot acquired a company he started, the Technical Resource Connection (TRC), in 1996.

• John Trainor
  VP & CIO Aaron's, Inc.
  
  

  John Trainor is VP and CIO of Aaron's, Inc., an Atlanta-based specialty retailer that leases furniture, electronics, and appliances. Since 1999, he has helped Aaron's grow from 450 to more than 2000 stores with almost $3B in revenue. Prior to joining Aaron's, he worked in technology roles at the Southern Company and the United States Senate. He received his bachelor's in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

  Trainor serves as the chairman of the Mobility Society Board for the Technology Associate of Georgia and is the membership chairman for the Georgia CIO Leadership Association. He volunteers and raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Georgia.

• John Van Siclen
  SVP & GM, Application Performance Management (APM), Business Unit Compuware Corporation
  
  

  John Van Siclen, formerly CEO of dynaTrace, which was acquired by Compuware in 2011, became the general manager of Compuware’s APM Business Unit in 2011. Van Siclen brings to Compuware more than 30 years of industry experience in both private and public companies such as NetFRAME, Informix and Interwoven. Focusing on exceptional solution value and superior customer success, he has built a number of highly scalable businesses in some of the most competitive markets in the technology space.

  He has reshaped Compuware’s APM offering from a collection of brands — Gomez, dynaTrace and Vantage — into a tightly integrated solution set that brings a new generation of value to customers in minutes. CRN Magazine named Van Siclen one of the top technology disruptors of 2012.