Speakers

• Jerry Batt
  VP & CIO Pulte Homes, Inc.
  
  

  Jerry R. Batt is VP & CIO of Pulte Homes Corporation. He is currently engaged in implementing the "Pulte Home Builders Suite", an integrated portfolio of applications that automate the home building business process. His responsibilities also include data center, networking, field support and a business process integration function in each of 54 home building markets. His organization has been recognized as among the top 100 IS groups in the US by CIO magazine in 2005 and Information Week in 2006.

  Previously, Batt was with Sprint PCS from 2001 to 2003 as VP & CIO. He was responsible for over 200 applications, 3000 people and $600M annual development investment. Batt assumed executive leadership for delivery of Sprint PCS's 3G Network, which successfully launched in August 2002. He led a complete infrastructure replacement program for PCS that included a leading edge billing, customer care and sales platform.

  Prior to joining Sprint, he co-founded and became CEO of Foxfire Consulting, an IT consulting and systems integration firm. He raised $20 Million in funding and launched the company in June 2000. Foxfire specialized in the telecommunications vertical and had offices in Dallas, New Jersey and Atlanta and over 50 employees.

  Before starting his own company, Batt spent 27 years with AT&T in a variety of executive assignments in engineering, marketing, sales, product management and human resources. He was responsible for building AT&T's consumer long distance account management, billing and customer service platform. This platform supported over 300 products and services, over 8000 customer service and sales reps, $25 Billion in revenue and over 100 million consumer accounts.

  He is currently based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is on the Board of Directors of Kana Software, based in Menlo Park, Ca. He has served on advisory boards for the University of Texas, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. and numerous companies. Batt is a graduate of Virginia Tech with BS degrees in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. In 1997, he was honored as a "Distinguished Alumnus" of the College of Engineering of Virginia Tech and as a Wheat First Union Executive Speaker at the University.

• Ken C. Bohlen
  VP & CIO Arizona Public Service Company
  
  

  Ken Bohlen is Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Arizona Public Service Company (APS). He oversees the company’s vital electronic infrastructure and addresses the digital challenges faced by a major electric utility. In 2008, APS was ranked by Information Week as one of the top ten U.S. companies for information technology innovation.

  Bohlen joined APS in 2010. Prior to that he spent ten years at Textron, a $14 billion diversified industrial company where his responsibilities as Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer included the worldwide information technology organization as well as the company’s procurement, ERM, Six Sigma, India operations and engineering functions. In 2000, Bohlen was recognized as one of the first leaders to usher in the new wave of innovation by being given the title of Chief Innovation Officer. Bohlen served on the Management Committee of Textron, built a reputation for developing strong teams, and led the transformational activities for Textron.

  Prior to joining Textron in 1999, Bohlen spent four years with AlliedSignal Inc., where he served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer of the Aerospace Group. He also held several other senior positions, including Vice President of Supply Chain and Chief Information Officer for AlliedSignal Engines, Vice President of Six Sigma, and Director of Supply Chain and Business Process Improvement for AlliedSignal Inc.

  Previously, Bohlen spent twenty years with Deere & Company, where he held several senior leadership positions in Engineering, Production Control, and Information Technology.

  Bohlen is a member of the American Production Inventory Control Society and a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Computer and Automated Systems Association. He was recognized with the 2005 Stevie Award for “Best MIS and Systems Executive” and is a member of IBM’s Board of Advisors. Recently, Bohlen was recognized by his peers as one of the 2006 Computer World’s Premier 100 Leaders. Bohlen received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Iowa State University and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Iowa.

• KC Choi
  VP, Americas Solutions Architecture Hewlett-Packard Company
  
  

  KC Choi's team provides strategic technology infrastructure design and architecture advisory services for Hewlett Packard’s corporate, enterprise and government customers in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. This team of 900 technology professionals supports sales in excess of $12B across the Americas region. He has been with HP for 19 years in various technical and management roles including leading the Oracle/Compaq business unit for 3 years. He also leads the Americas HP-IT Transformation teams in transferring HP-IT best practices and methods in the service of similar customer initiatives. He has also served as VP, CTO for SeniorCo Inc. which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of United HealthCare. Choi has also held sales and technical positions with NCR Corporation and IBM Corporation.

  Choi serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, a non-profit organization focused on developing leaders from the Asian/Pacific business community and also on the Global Diversity Board for HP. Choi graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics.

• Chris Filandro
  VP & CIO Meritage Homes Corporation
  
  

  As Vice President and CIO of Meritage Homes, Chris Filandro is responsible for delivering a comprehensive set of solutions to manage the Homebuilding Operations and Financial Management of the company. He is also responsible for managing the operations and strategic direction for Information Services. Filandro has been with Meritage Homes since 2004 where he helped transform the Information Technology group through significant changes in the way the organization managed technology. Filandro led several strategic efforts including comprehensive IT Governance, Consolidated Data Center Management and Operations, Centralized Service and Support, Information Security and Standards, IP Telephony Solution and Procurement Standards.

  Filandro drives the strategic efforts at Meritage Homes to complete the comprehensive set of ERP tools including Financial Management, Homebuilding Operations Management, Sales Contract Management, Lead and Prospect Management, Design Center Options Management and Business Intelligence. These solutions are delivered through a host of complimentary application sets all integrated to deliver the maximum benefit to the organization while maintaining strong cost effectiveness.

  Filandro holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelors of Science in Business from Western International University where he graduated Cum Laude.

• Bob Hansmann
  Sr. Technology Evangelist for Security Blue Coat Systems, Inc.
  
  

   Bob Hansmann is the Senior Technology Evangelist for Security at Blue Coat. Working with Blue Coat Security Labs, he is responsible for keeping abreast of the trends and directions of emerging technologies, malware, and the anti-malware industry. Dealing with zero-day threats, data leakage, disaster recovery, botnets, and malware have been part of Mr. Hansmann's role for over two decades. He has become a recognized and respected presenter for his ability to deliver a balanced perspective of the problem with applicable advice.

• Stephen Happel
  Professor of Economics Arizona State University
  
  

  Dr. Stephen Happel has been a Professor of Economics at the Arizona State University W.P Carey School of Business since 1975. He grew up in Quincy, Illinois, received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Missouri in 1969, an M.A. from Duke in 1972, and a Ph.D. in economics from Duke in 1976. Dr. Happel is founding director of the ASU School of Business Honors Program and served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies from 1991 to 1999.

  His research focuses on applied microeconomics and population issues. He has written two textbooks and over 100 articles in both professional journals and popular outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and The Arizona Republic.

  Dr. Happel has received a host of teaching awards at ASU, including the ASU Distinguished Teaching Award, the Burlington Northern Award, and Arizona Professor of the Year selected by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He speaks throughout the U.S. on the domestic economy and international trends, paying particular attention to generational spending patterns, to recent Federal Reserve policy, and to current tax/spending proposals by the White House and congress.

• Jonathan Harber
  CIO & VP, IT Blood Systems, Inc.
  
  

  Jonathan Harber has 30 years in IT, application development and business operations, 26 of those in senior management. He is currently CIO and VP, IT for Blood Systems, Inc. in Scottsdale. Blood Systems is the second largest transfusion medicine organization in the world and is recognized as the global leader in quality, process and technology. He has also held positions as SVP Global Operations for eFunds Corporation and VP, CIO and Chief Security Officer for Corporate Systems, Inc.

  Harber served 11 years in the United States Marine Corps where he held positions as a scout, sniper, data systems officer, communications officer, intelligence officer and information warfare officer.

  He is the 2009 and 2010 “Arizona Technology Council CIO of the Year” and holds positions on the AABB Information Systems Committee, Americas Blood Centers (ABC) IT Steering Committee, and currently serves as Chairman of the ABC Special Interest Group for the Health Level Seven (HL7) International Transfusion Messaging Standard.

  Harber has a B.S. in Physical Science from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from West Texas A&M University with a concentration in Finance and Economics.

• Donald J. Houde
  Chief Information & Technology Officer Arizona Department of Education
  
  

  The last five years, while serving in multiple leadership roles for the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), Donald J. Houde has been focused on the restructuring and repurposing of Arizona’s educational IT division. Currently, as ADE’s Chief Information & Technology Officer and Deputy Associate Superintendent, the once compartmentalized IT division has advanced to a fully accountable IT service management organization.

  A critical success factor of this transition has been Houde and his team’s focus on the creation and implementation of ADE’s IT and data governance structures. In accomplishing those goals, the enterprise focused IT division has evolved to include a statewide education information security and privacy office, an enterprise data management group, an agency project management and business analyst section, a quality assurance subdivision, an agency operations and support center group, and a network infrastructure and systems division that includes statewide disaster recovery and continuity of operations responsibilities.

  In support of Arizona’s rigorous educational goals, Houde divides his professional time by providing support for many national educational improvement initiatives. He acts as a permanent advisor and contributor to several leading national educational focused organizations. Finally, Houde has leveraged his years of private and public sector leadership to secure millions of incremental dollars for Arizona public education.

• Brad Jensen
  SVP & CIO US Airways, Inc.
  
  

  Brad Jensen is US Airways’ Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. His responsibilities include overseeing the acquisition, development and delivery of Information Technology (IT) products and services. Jensen oversees a diverse team of professionals known as USAIT spanning a broad range of technology disciplines.

   

  US Airways’ Infrastructure organization provides world class IT Service Management and operations. The Business Technology Delivery organizations provide agile applications development for proprietary products and expert systems integration, leveraging best-in-class third party software. A progressive Applications Architecture team ensures strategic enterprise capability. Other teams include a Project Management Office, Quality Management Office and Vendor Management Office.

   

  Jensen joined US Airways in January 2009. He previously served Southlake, Texas-based Sabre Holdings Corporation as Senior Vice President, Air Services. Prior to joining Sabre, he spent 16 years with American Airlines in Route and Schedule Planning. 

   

  In his technology career, he has accomplished broad-scale product integration, replaced large-scale legacy systems with new technology, and delivered high volume, high performance applications.   Jensen is known throughout the software development community as an early adopter of Agile software development techniques. 

   

  Jensen holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Utah and a Master of Science, Operations Research from the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Vangie, have four children and three grandchildren. 

• Caren Shiozaki
  EVP & CIO Thornburg Mortgage
  
  

  Caren Shiozaki is EVP, Managing Director and Chief Information Officer for Thornburg Mortgage, a leading single-family residential mortgage lender serving prime and super-prime borrowers seeking jumbo and super-jumbo adjustable-rate mortgages.

  In 2004, Shiozaki joined Belo Corp as VP and CIO. Belo is one of the nation's largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. During her tenure at this Fortune 1000 company, she implemented significant changes in IT, broadcast engineering and interactive publishing functions to better position Belo as a competitor in new media.

  In 1997, Shiozaki joined American Express as a VP of Enterprise Architecture, where she led the team that was responsible for the "Manage Your Card Account" web interface. She was also responsible for creating and administering American Express's enterprise governance program.

  Shiozaki spent a number of years at Bank of America in positions of increasing responsibility. She developed her global business expertise living and working throughout Asia.

  Shiozaki is a member of the Advisory Board for Hunt Ventures LLP, a venture capital investment firm. She is also on the Advisory Board for Change Agent Media. She earned a B.A. in Genetics from the University of California at Berkeley. Shiozaki has spoken at a number of professional forums on the topics of new media, outsourcing, portfolio management and strategic planning for business and technologies. She is also a guest lecturer for the University of North Texas. She was one of the recipients of the 2006 "Dallas-Fort Worth IT Executive of the Year" award.

  She has served on the Board of Trustees for the Arizona Science. She was Vice Chairman for the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of SIM. She is actively engaged in SIM's program "Future Potential in IT". She is a mentor for Women Unlimited. She is also a member of Women in Technologies International and the Alliance of Technology and Women.

• John Sweeney
  Author, Owner & Executive Producer Brave New Workshop Theatre
  
  

  John Sweeney is the owner of the Brave New Workshop, the oldest satirical comedy theatre in the United States. In his book, Innovation at the Speed of Laughter: 8 Secrets to World Class Idea Generation, he showed how the improvisational theatre principles and behaviors practiced at the Brave New Workshop can be used to develop critical business skills.

  Using the eight secrets described in his book, Sweeney helps organizations increase their productivity by adapting the skills used in his world-class improvisational theatre. He has trained leaders from some of the largest and most admired companies in the world, including Microsoft, Target, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Merck, HP and Starbucks.

  Sweeney was chosen by Starbucks to contribute to the company's "The Way I See It" campaign and currently has a quote from his book on millions of Starbucks cups.

  With his unique background and improvisational skills, Sweeney continues to influence a new generation of great improvisers and innovative business leaders.

• Peter Weis
  VP & CIO Matson Navigation Company, Inc.
  
  

  Peter F. Weis is VP and CIO of Matson Navigation Company in Oakland, CA. Matson’s transportation offerings span the globe from Shanghai to Savannah and encompass everything from providing a vital lifeline to the island economies of Hawaii, Guam and Micronesia to delivering a wide range of multi-modal services throughout North America.

  Weis has more than 25 years of IT experience in the fields of transportation, logistics and supply chain management. As Matson’s CIO since 2003, Weis is responsible for driving the company’s IT strategy, ensuring that maximum value is achieved for both tactical and strategic IT investments. He continues to lead Matson’s multi-year strategic IT investment cycle, which is aimed at refreshing Matson’s entire applications portfolio in order to enable business growth, reduce costs, and eliminate technology risks. Weis also provides IT services for Matson’s two subsidiaries, Matson Integrated Logistics and Matson Terminals.

  Weis is a 2009 recipient of the Computerworld “Premier 100 IT Leaders” award. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and holds an M.B.A. with Honors from the Wharton School.

• Steven Wormsley
  CIO University of Arizona
  
  

  Stephen Wormsley is a results-oriented leader with more than 10 years experience in Information Technology and customer service arenas. This versatile and experienced CIO established his career in an academic environment and has been situated at a Medical School for the past 15 years. Wormsley’s career accomplishments remain based on a strong foundation, perceptive analysis and a highly intuitive and successful mesh of both. He excels at learning business operations and developing strong relationships across an organization in particular with faculty, staff and students. Having a strong experience and knowledge base in multiple academic settings, Wormsley is highly experienced in Academic Health Centers. He is knowledgeable in strategic planning, knowledge management, operational management, and change management. As an experienced Manager, he is capable of recruiting, building, and motivating top-caliber technical teams. Wormsley is a proven expert in identifying and exploiting cost-reduction opportunities through automation and remote access. Wormsley leads by being highly creative, innovative, big-picture thinker who values practicality and elegance in shaping the future of the organization.