Paul Davis - "Redefining Failure: Why Company Success Depends on CTOs and Teams Seeing What Others Miss"
Paul Davis, Field CTO at NetApp, shares why CTOs must balance hands-on technical execution with long-term business strategy. He contrasts the role with CIOs, who are more focused on current operations. He also emphasizes that CTOs drive future success by asking tough questions and challenging the organization to innovate.
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EPISODE: Paul Davis Field CTO @ NetApp Redefining Failure: Why Company Success Depends on CTOs and Teams Seeing What Others Miss Episode 23
What’s Inside [0:44] Introduction to Paul Davis [27:03] Full Podcast Episode [3:02] Episode Highlights [3:01] The CTO's Role in Balancing Tech Execution and Future Strategy [7:19] Bridging the Skills Gap in Enterprise AI for Business [3:26] Turning Failure into Fuel for Innovation and Strategic Advantage [1:56] Adapting AI for Workforce Planning in Today’s Business Models [1:48] AI’s Impact on Developer, Analyst, and Product Owner Roles [2:40] Utilizing AI for Team Efficiency and Productivity [1:44] Reinventing the Field CTO for a High-Pace Era [1:26] Takeaway: Be Present, Engaged, and Committed [0:37] Short - The CTO's Role in Balancing Tech Execution and Future Strategy [0:49] Short - Bridging the Skills Gap in Enterprise AI for Business
EPISODE: A Podcast with Paul Davis Paul Davis, Field CTO at NetApp, shares why CTOs must balance hands-on technical execution with long-term business strategy. He contrasts the role with CIOs, who are more focused on current operations. He also emphasizes that CTOs drive future success by asking tough questions and challenging the organization to innovate.
Full Episode “A Field CTO can help people become aware that the silos of yesterday are not going to build the systems you want today or tomorrow.”
5 (3:02) Episode Highlights
(3:01) The CTO's Role in Balancing Tech Execution and Future Strategy “Where CTOs get to play is in helping define strategy while also looking beyond what’s next. They take a longer view, asking how today’s actions are setting the organization up for success tomorrow. Sometimes, that means raising questions to both the organization and customers who may not yet be thinking that far ahead.”
(7:19) Bridging the Skills Gap in Enterprise AI for Business “As an individual, if you are not keeping up, you're becoming one step removed from how the technology works. Now take that into a corporate setting because we're moving at a pace we've never seen before.”
8 (3:26) Turning Failure into Fuel for Innovation and Strategic Advantage “You build resiliency by having gone through failures several times. You want people who are resilient, learn fast, move on, and don't bring that baggage with them.”
(1:56) Adapting AI for Workforce Planning in Today’s Business Models “In the new world of AI, we're seeing roles like writing documentation and copyright evolving. We're also seeing tools that help you build code more efficiently. The companies that fail forward on this quickly will likely succeed in their business models.”
(1:48) AI’s Impact on Developer, Analyst, and Product Owner Roles “I think the role of the developer, business analyst, and product owner is going to evolve. How it evolves and when it evolves will be industry-specific and domain- specific.”
11 (2:40) Utilizing AI for Team Efficiency and Productivity “I use our corporate AI tools to the degree that they've made me more efficient. I can move faster, and I believe I can handle more tasks. Right now, it's my digital assistant that gives me more superpowers in my role.”
(1:44) Reinventing the Field CTO for a High-Pace Era “We’re reinventing what the Field CTO role is today, and I see these roles continuing to evolve. The question is, how can others like me help define that role within organizations so they can move at these accelerated paces? We need to understand how we can embrace failure within organizations to grow and move forward.”
(1:26) Takeaway: Be Present, Engaged, and Committed “Be present. Be engaged and pick those things that are going to make a difference for you professionally, for the company you work for, and for the customers you support around you.”
14 YOUTUBE SHORT: “Where CTOs get to play is in helping define strategy while also looking beyond what’s next. They take a longer view, asking how today’s actions are setting the organization up for success tomorrow. Sometimes, that means raising questions to both the organization and customers who may not yet be thinking that far ahead.” - Paul Davis
YOUTUBE SHORT: “As an individual, if you are not keeping up, you're becoming one step removed from how the technology works. Now take that into a corporate setting because we're moving at a pace we've never seen before.” - Paul Davis
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