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Mastermind Interview Keynotes are a highlight of Gartner Symposium/ITxpo. Come hear technology’s leading CEOs reveal corporate strategy, product direction and other key insights. The soft economy is driving calls for process improvements, productivity gains and cost cuts. Despite all this, business is demanding that IT deliver on the innovations and competitive advantage that will help the enterprise succeed. Now more than ever, you’ve got to manage the dual priorities of IT and business - and the business of IT. The Gartner Analyst Opening Keynote will delve into the business imperatives that are - or should be - driving key technology strategies and investments. We’ll also look at each of the core areas of IT and the evolution, or the revolution, in the way these strategies and investments are being evaluated, delivered and managed. Consider this a wake-up call not just for your week but also for your year. You won’t want to miss this ensemble performance of some of Gartner’s leading minds.
- Peter Sondergaard
- SVP, Research
- Gartner
- Brian Gammage
- VP & Gartner Fellow
- Gartner
- Richard Hunter
- VP Distinguished Analyst
- Gartner
- Andy Kyte
- VP & Gartner Fellow
- Gartner
- Susan Landry
- VP Distinguished Analyst
- Gartner
- Stephen Prentice
- VP & Gartner Fellow
- Gartner
Mastermind Keynotes
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is known for its Mastermind Keynotes. These hard-hitting interviews with technology's leading CEOs reveal corporate strategy, product direction and other questions our audience wants answered. The Keynotes sessions will take place live in the Dolphin’s Hemisphere Ballroom.
- Mastermind Interview: Ian Livingston
- CEO
- BT
- Wednesday, 05 November 2008 10:00-10:45
- See Webcast
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Read Bio
Ian Livingston will become CEO of BT Group on June 1st 2008 after holding two key executive roles in the company which he joined in April 2002. He has served on the Board as Group Finance Director, and is currently CEO BT Retail.
After going to school in Scotland, Ian studied Economics at Manchester University. He graduated at the age of 19 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He worked for Bank of America International and 3i before joining Dixons group in 1991. He was appointed Group Finance Director at Dixons at the age of 32, making him the youngest FTSE 100 director by some distance.
During his time with the company, Dixons enjoyed a period of dramatic international expansion, extending its operations into 11 countries through a mixture of acquisition and organic growth. Ian worked and lived for a time in the United States as Chief Financial Officer of the company’s $1billion dollar American subsidiary. In 1998 Ian’s Corporate Development Team launched “Freeserve”. He floated the business a year later in the first major European floatation of an internet company. Freeserve became a FTSE company which was sold for around £1.5 billion in 2001 (from an original start up cost of £240,000).
Ian Joined BT as Group Finance Director just 4 months after Ben Verwaayen took over as Group CEO. During the three years Ian spent in this post the company’s financial position was transformed. Operating cashflow improved from negative £88 million to positive £2.1 billion, debt reduced by £6 billion and costs fell by around £400m per anum.
In February 2005 Ian was appointed CEO of BT Retail which is responsible for all BT’s UK small and medium enterprise and consumer business, BT Ireland and BT Enterprises (a portfolio of businesses including BT Conferencing, BT Directories, BT Redcare and Dabs.com). BT Retail has revenues of more than £8 billion. Under Ian’s leadership the division has seen profits turn around from an annual rate of double digit decline into double digit profit growth, with annual profits of around £1 ½ billion. This has been achieved in a ferociously competitive market.
Ian lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, his son and daughter. He is a keen football fan, and is a director of Celtic football Club.
- Mastermind Interview: Steve Chambers
- CIO
- Visa Europe
- Thursday, 06 November 2008 10:00-10:45
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See Webcast
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Read Bio
In his role Steve Chambers is responsible for the management of Visa Europe's regional data centre, the ongoing systems development and delivering a new payments architecture. The CIO role ranges from putting hardware and software into place, through to establishing Visa systems across Europe and providing customer support.
Steve has spent a working lifetime in the payments sector on the supplier side, broadening his range in IT, marketing and sales director roles. Prior joining Visa he worked for ACI as Vice President and for First Data Resources as Head of Information Technology.
Steve joined Visa in 2004.
- Closing Keynote
- Ade McCormack
- Auridian and FT columnist
- Financial Times
- Friday, 07 November 2008,12:45-13:15
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See Webcast
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Read Bio
Ade McCormack is an author, market commentator and IT value advisor. His career extends from 'bits from boardroom', starting out as a real-time software engineer prior to spending seven years at Logica. His focus today is on helping organisations maximise the value they yield from their IT investment. He is the author of the acclaimed books, IT Demystified - The IT handbook for business professionals' and 'The IT Value Stack - A boardroom guide to IT Leadership'. Ade also has a column in the Financial Times advising business leaders on IT issues. According to ex Harvard Business Review editor, Nick Carr, "Ade McCormack sounds a much-needed clarion call for IT to "grow up" and become a mature business function."
