Expert Details

B2B Digital Transformation; Strategic Planning, Roadmap Development, Scalable Transformation Methodologies

ID: 736816 Texas, USA

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Expert is a resourceful, versatile, and results-centric executive consultant who provides best-in-class thought leadership related to digital transformation, including strategic planning, Agile product development, technology execution management, and related data and insights. A proven expert on how to leverage data through the use of APIs, Insights, and Analytics, and next-generation digital platforms to evolve a company, Expert has spoken internationally at numerous conferences, including the renowned BAPI Conference (Business of APIs) and the API Strategy Conference.

Expert has had success as a leader (Head of Emerging Platforms for Best Buy, SVP of Digital Services for YA Engage) and as a consultant. He brings a wealth of experience and talent for putting a digital lens on a company’s data and business models to help Executive Leadership Teams develop a digital business strategy and the related transformation success roadmap.

Expertise — Strategic Planning, Data Strategy, Digital Transformation, Use Cases, Business Cases, Business Models, Project Financing, Project Management, Product Management, Agile Software Development, Technology Integration, Project Financing, Insights and Analytics, Cloud Infrastructure, Customer Engagement.

Industry Experience — Retail, eCommerce, Consumer Products (CPG), Financial Services, Manufacturing, B2B & B2B2C & B2C, Digital Marketing

Innovation Strategy — Best Buy Corp, Target, T-Mobile Retail, Advance Auto Parts, Lowe’s, Taylor Digital, Thrivent Financial

Expert received a B.A. in Finance degree from the University of St Thomas (St. Paul, MN) and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Strategic Management and Marketing from the University of Minnesota.

Summary:
• Strategic thinker with proven execution excellence in digital transformation, innovation, and software product development.
• Accomplished ideating with CXOs and effectively communicating the strategy with technologists to define and deliver innovative digital products.
• Regarded as a thought leader regarding digital transformation and next-generation platforms due to numerous measurable successes both as a leader and consultant.
o Has spoken internationally at conferences on transformation, including the renowned BAPI Future of Technology Conference (London & San Francisco) and the API Strategy Conference (NYC).
o Led the panel discussing AI (Artificial Intelligence) for innovating SmartCity platforms at the Digital360 Summit.

Experience Highlights:
• At Best Buy built an award-winning team that was challenged to drive digital transformation and develop new eCommerce solutions. As a result, won both the Chairman’s Award for Innovation and the Global Growth Award.
• Worked with the Executive Leadership Team of Thrivent’s innovation arm, Brightpeak Financial, to define the digital strategy and implement product management and Design Thinking methods to define and build an expanded virtual financial advisor application resulting in 2X NPS increase from the original platform.
• As a consultant, led the creation of a startup within Taylor Corporation, a multi-billion dollar B2B retailer.
This work included:
o Developed the strategic plan, product development process, and execution strategy.
o Led the product conceptualization, planning, staffing, Agile coaching, and initial delivery (MVP) for a Marketplace eCommerce platform and Recommendation Engine.
• At Target, spearheaded a major, multifaceted program to define, design, and build the next generation applications for Target’s stores.
• Achieved over 40% year-over-year revenue growth for YA Engage by leading innovation strategy for retail clients (including T-Mobile, Advance Auto Parts, and Lowe’s), defining their next-generation digital products, and delivering on their build and implementation.
• For Visioneer Digital, a startup revolutionizing large conference engagement through gamification, consulted the CEO, COO, and CTO on defining the strategy, roadmap, and led engineering on the development of a SaaS platform that enables event planners of large conferences to utilize gamification to incentivize and measure the engagement of attendees and exhibitors.
• Consulted and drove the ideation and road mapping for the emerging digital product portfolio that transformed Trafficware from a stoplight manufacturer into a next-generation traffic management platform for smart cars and smart cities leveraging IoT, Open APIs, and data. Worked with the CIO and CFO.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1996 Degree: MBA Subject: Strategy & Marketing Institution: University of Minnesota
Year: 1993 Degree: BA Subject: Finance & French Institution: University of St. Thomas

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2021 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Principal Consultant Department: Digital Transformation
Responsibilities:
Driving the Digital Transformation for a global semi-conductor manufacturer through strategic planning, roadmap development, and the implementation of scalable transformation methodologies that can be utilized throughout the enterprise.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2016 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Digital Transformation Consultant and Founder Department: N/A
Responsibilities:
Client: A Multi-Billion Dollar B2B Retailer
• Developed the strategic plan, product development process, and execution strategy for the new digital startup arm of a multi-billion dollar B2B retail company.
• Led the product conceptualization, planning, staffing, Agile coaching, and initial delivery (MVP) for a Marketplace eCommerce platform and Recommendation Engine.

Client: A Startup within Thrivent Financial, A Multi-Billion Dollar Financial Services Company
• Worked with the Executive Leadership Team, specifically the CEO, CTO, Chief Product Officer, and CTO, to define the innovation strategy and implement product management and Design Thinking methods to achieve success.
• Using Design Thinking, drove and managed a human-centered approach to define a virtual financial advisor application resulting in a 2X NPS increase from the original platform

Client: SmartCity Digital Company Innovating Traffic Management Leveraging IoT and Data
• Worked with the CFO, CIO, and Chief of Engineering to ideate and define the innovation strategy and emerging digital product portfolio that transformed this company from a stoplight manufacturer into a next-generation traffic management platform for smart cars and smart cities.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2013 to 2016 Employer: YA Engage Title: SVP of Digital Services Department: Digital Services
Responsibilities:
As one of the most prominent retail digital service companies globally, YA Engage serves over 60 Fortune 500 retailers (Lowe’s, Pep Boys, Office Depot, T-Mobile Stores, etc.) and brands (Pepsi, Anheuser Busch, Directv, etc.).
• Reporting to the CEO led all of YA's technology departments (Professional Services, Engineering, IT Infrastructure, and Insights & Analytics) and drove a complete digital transformation for the company.

“ Expert has done an impressive job transforming the Digital Service Organization. He has delivered on his goals and on the investments.” – Managing Director at (undisclosed) Management (independent consultant review for the YA Engage Board of Directors)

• Achieved over 40% year-over-year revenue growth by spearheading innovation strategy for our clients (including T-Mobile, Advance Auto Parts, and Lowe’s), defining their next-generation digital products, and delivering on their build and implementation.
• Built and led the digital department of over 50 people, including the staffing and mentorship of 3 Vice Presidents (Product Development, Client Insights and Analytics, and IT Infrastructure) and 1 Senior Vice President (Professional Services) who were direct reports.
• Designed and rolled out product development discipline, roadmap, Agile development process (Scrum), organizational change management, quality assurance, and open culture.
• Developed and managed the P&L for digital products and services.
• Key contributor to strategic planning and met monthly with the investors and Board of Directors to report progress on initiatives.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2009 to 2013 Employer: Best Buy Title: Director of Product, Emerging Platforms Department: Digital
Responsibilities:
• Led the strategy, product management, and development of numerous next-generation platform technologies that enable seamless integration of Best Buy products and services into external partner mobile or web applications. This enables Best Buy to appear wherever customers seek consumer electronics online (like loyalty sites, mobile apps, and search engines).
• Built an award-winning team within Best Buy challenged to drive digital transformation and develop new eCommerce solutions for the company. Won both the Chairman’s Award for Innovation and the Global Growth Award.

“A small number of employees drove the bulk of this work by thinking differently about growing the online business outside of traditional Best Buy channels. By challenging the status quo, they were able to solve customer needs and place Best Buy in front of customers in new and engaging ways.” – interim Best Buy CEO, about Expert's product team.

• Worked cross-functionally to drive major cultural changes within Best Buy. For example, persuaded leadership and other teams to follow a Product Development model (versus a Project-based model) and use Agile development. Also, set the standard for the company on how to integrate business teams with IT to form these collaborative product teams.
• Cost justified innovation investments for leadership through detailed financial analysis and forecasting, including “build vs. buy” assessments and ROI analysis.
• Utilized persuasion to influence in-store business changes that evolved the Brick & Mortar model for Best Buy to most effectively use the company’s local presence in the digital/mobile commerce world. This includes significant changes in-store operations, online and back-end systems to accommodate our vision.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2007 to 2008 Employer: LifeTime Fitness Corporation Title: Transformation Consultant (Tech-Pro) Department: Marketing
Responsibilities:
• Working in collaboration with the COO and over 20 cross-functional resources, used a human-centered approach to assess all of the company’s business lines from a CX perspective and identified key areas for innovation and improvement.
• Led ideation across the enterprise to eliminate customer pain points and define digital tools to improve customer experience.
• Completed a “buy vs. build” analysis for each opportunity and created the RFP for vendor selection.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2005 to 2006 Employer: Target Corporation Title: Program Management Consultant (Tech-Pro) Department: IT
Responsibilities:
• Spearheaded a major, multifaceted program to define, design, and build the next-generation applications for Target’s stores.
• Chaired the Stores Architecture Review Board (SARB), responsible for prioritizing and setting the direction for each new project that had gained funding approval.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2004 to 2010 Employer: Tech-Pro Consulting Title: Senior Consultant Department: Consulting
Responsibilities:
Product and Program Management
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1999 to 2004 Employer: Self Employed Title: Project Management Consultant and Founder Department: N/A
Responsibilities:
Project Management
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1996 to 1999 Employer: Boston Scientific Title: IT Manager Department: IT
Responsibilities:
IT Management
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1993 to 1995 Employer: CSC Consulting Title: Software Engineer Department: Consulting
Responsibilities:
Consulted on Technology for Fortune 500 Clients.

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