Cullinane & Green Report

Conversation with Charlene Li - AlwaysOn Summit 2007

Cullinane & Green Report regulars will enjoy this podcast as an update to last year's report from the AlwaysOn Innovation Summit at Stanford University -- and both old and new listeners are in for a real treat. Tony Perkins' AlwaysOn Innovation Summit is one of the top events of the year for those, like Cullinane & Green, who are on the bleeding edge of web and internet technologies and how they apply to business. This year Tony set the bar even higher in terms of outstanding speakers and showcased technologies -- and we will do our best to share the excitement through a series of interviews recorded live at the event. Joe had this plum assignment this year, since I'm on an extended business trip in my home town of Philadelphia. This first interview is with Charlene Li, and is an interesting update to her interview from last year's Summit, when podcasting was just beginning. Listen as she discusses with Joe how things have heated up in this space and what to expect in the future. Charlene is one of the driving forces behind Forrester's Social Computing and Web 2.0 research, she examines how companies can use technologies like blogs, social networking, RSS, tagging, and widgets for marketing purposes. During her eight years at Forrester, Charlene has also lead the Marketing and Media research team, and ran the San Francisco office. In her research, Charlene covers such marketing-related topics as consumer portals, search, and media site design. She also leverages her background in newspaper publishing and looks at online local media and online classifieds. In the past, she has also written about online advertising, online gaming, and media content strategies. She also contributes to her Groundswell blog and plans to publish a book by the same name in spring 2008. A former strategy consultant for Monitor Company, Charlene is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. So relax and enjoy this interview that puts you right at the leading edge of technology trends in business. Look for the rest of Joe's AlwaysOn 2007 interviews over the next few weeks. And, of course, thanks for listening to the Report. Remember, at Cullinane & Green "we're on the bleeding edge so you don't have to be!" (tm)

Conversation with Bill McDermott

Bill McDermott is the President & CEO of SAP Americas & Asia Pacific Japan and a Corporate Officer of SAP AG, the largest business software company in the world. McDermott is responsible for managing SAP's strategic business activities in the United States, Canada and Latin America and in the Asia Pacific Japan region, which includes Japan, China and India -- directing more than 17,000 employees to serve the needs of customers. SAP Americas, headquartered in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, is the recognized leader in providing collaborative business solutions to companies of all sizes in more than 25 industries. In 2006, SAP appeared for the first time on Business Week's list of Most Innovative Companies. Additionally, SAP has been ranked #3 in the Computer Software category of FORTUNE magazine's America's Most Admired Companies. Since McDermott's arrival at SAP, the company in the U.S. has delivered 18 consecutive quarters of significant market share gains, revenue growth and customer satisfaction improvements. Prior to joining SAP, McDermott served as executive vice president of worldwide sales operations at Siebel Systems, and president of Gartner, Inc., where he led the company's core operations. He spent 17 years at Xerox Corporation, where he progressively rose through the ranks to become the company's youngest corporate officer and division president. McDermott is an active community leader and advocate for corporate social responsibility. He was recently named Humanitarian of the Year by Triangle, Inc., a social services organization that focuses on helping people with disabilities. In 2006, McDermott received the Yitzhak Rabin Public Services Award in recognition of his contributions as a civic leader who has demonstrated a commitment to Israel as a source of technological innovation. McDermott received an MBA degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and he completed the Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Graduate School of Management. He received his B.S. degree in business administration from Dowling College. We are privleged to have Bill McDermott with us today on the Cullinane & Green Report. And remember: At the Cullinane & Green Report we're on the bleeding edge so you don't have to be!

Conversation with Bobby Yazdani

On this podcast, Joe and Roger are delighted to have a conversation with Bobby Yazdani, the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Saba, Inc. Bobby Yazdani is the driving force behind the Saba vision, products, and market direction. He founded Saba in 1997 and took the company public in 2000. Today, Saba, headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif., is the leading provider of Human Capital Development and Management solutions. Among the Global 2000, Saba customers include Allianz Group, DaimlerChrysler, EDS, Procter & Gamble, Ford Motor Company, and Cisco Systems.Yazdani is a frequent spokesperson at industry events held by such prestigious organizations as the United Nations and The Economist. Prior to founding Saba, Yazdani served as Senior Director at Oracle Corporation. Yazdani has a BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley. We know that you'll enjoy Cullinane & Green's latest in our series of conversations with CEOs. As always, we're on the bleeding edge so you don't have to be!

Conversations with Jeff Huber and Bill Coughran

Anyone who uses a computer knows about Google and what a great tool it is. But very few know about the people behind the scenes – the engineers who build it, grow it, keep it running like a swiss watch and of course make it possible for Google to be one of the world’s most profitable businesses – on or off the internet. On today’s show Roger has conversations with two of the most senior engineering managers working at Google, who will tell us about their views of the Google phenomenon. First Roger talks with Jeff Huber. Jeff joined Google in 2003 and is the company's VP of Engineering. In this role, Jeff leads the technology development and innovation efforts for Google's advertising and monetization systems, including Google's AdWords and AdSense programs. Jeff brings more than 15 years of experience in large scale systems design and operation, online consumer product development, high volume transaction processing and engineering management. Prior to joining Google, Jeff was VP of Architecture & Systems Development at eBay where he championed the development of their product search infrastructure and expansion of the platform API program. Before eBay, Jeff was SVP of Engineering at Excite@Home, where he led consumer product and infrastructure development for the largest broadband service provider. Earlier in his career, he was a technology consultant with McKinsey & Company, and founded a software development startup. Jeff holds a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master's Degree from Harvard University. Next Roger talks with Bill Coughran. Bill is Google's VP of Engineering for Systems Infrastructure where he is responsible for large-scale distributed computing programs underlying Google's products. Bill joined Google engineering in early 2003 where he began working with the web crawling, storage, and other systems teams. In addition, Bill is an author of more than 50 publications and has served on several editorial and conference boards, and technical advisory committees. He has also held adjunct and visiting positions at Stanford, the ETH, and Duke. Bill holds an MS and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University as well as a BS and a MS in mathematics from Caltech. We know you’ll enjoy this ‘behind-the scenes’ look at one of the most interesting and important technology companies in the world today. As always, at Cullinane & Green we’re on the bleeding edge so you don’t have to be!

Interview with Irv Rein

Our special guest on this edition of the Cullinane & Green Report is Irv Rein, Ph.D. -- an internationally known expert in public communication and popular culture and a Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University's School of Communication. Irv is a communication advisor to numerous highly visible places, organizations, and individuals. He has authored twelve books, including High Visibility, a groundbreaking study of image making, and, most recently, The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace, a penetrating reappraisal of the sports industry and its emerging technologies. He also serves on Major League Baseball's Commissioner's Initiative for the 21st Century and is a member of the Advisory Board for Northwestern University’s Master of Arts in Sports Administration. Listen and enjoy Irv's treasure trove of insights and anecdotes. At Cullinane & Green we're on the bleeding edge so you don't have to be.