Tom Peck, Levi’s CIO, talks about what he looks for and how to be prepared for the first conversation toward toward working together.
Levi’s, like many other large corporations, is looking to complement their existing technologies with cost and time saving innovations. However, they are inundated with new technologies to consider. If you are a startup vying for time with a large company you often only have once chance to get your foot in the door. Hear from Tom Peck, Levi’s CIO, on what he’s interested in so that you can start off strong.
1. What do you wish tech companies did in their first meeting/call with you?
Do your homework. Understand our company, our markets and our needs. Bring a value proposition with you. Too many tech companies come unprepared, view it as a sales call or simply hope I will inform them of my needs. The first meeting should be focused on starting a longer term relationship focused on solving business challenges … not on closing a sales call.
2. What’s the number one thing you look for when considering a technology partnership?
There are many things I consider ranging from product to corporate talent and R&D to innovation mindset. But the number one thing I look for is access to thought leaders who can collaboratively work with us and brainstorm how to collectively solve our business challenges. We want contact beyond simply sales, marketing and services. We want collaboration with execs, product engineers and general managers to better understand where we can go together.
3. What main new technologies are you looking to invest in/develop?
We must carefully balance building out our core ERP systems with other newer, more innovative technologies. Anything “new” must work within the confines of our existing technology stack and ecosystem. We are always exploring new developments in mobility, analytics, social shopping and ways to speed-up infrastructure provisioning while reducing our storage and physical footprint.
4. What’s the turn around time for a partnership from pitch to completion?
I define a “partnership” as a relationship between two entities – often customer and supplier – where there is opportunity for joint “wins.” Partnerships must have collaborative road mapping, co-development or co-testing opportunities, exec-to-exec relationships, regularly recurring discussions, joint access to thought leaders and joint accountability for success. Those companies that provide compelling solutions, have strong talent, understand the business and our technology ecosystem and are willing to co-share risk and accountability are more successful. Rather than put a time on this, I would prefer to put it within the context of milestones. Milestones can include, but aren’t limited to, successful proof-of-concepts, jointly developing annual budget and technology roadmaps and much more. This can takes months or even years. Regardless, the key is trust and having a strong relationship.
5. How many partnerships do you do in a year?
We have partnerships already in place for several of our key, large incumbent solution providers. Few new partnerships are added annually but we are always talking.
Come and meet Tom and other CIOs speak about their technology needs at Under the Radar on April 26th in Mountain View, CA.
