Careers and Emerging Roles in Technology/AI

Linwood Debrew

Director, Information Technology

SAS

I have the pleasure of leading a global team of IT Managers and IT Support Analyst who help to bring an exceptional employee experience through a customer-centric culture that focuses on providing quality support. I am passionate about creating a culture around inspiring trust, creating a clear vision, executing strategy, and coaching potential. My goal is to inspire team members to be valued members of a winning team doing impactful work.



In my 10 years of leadership in the IT Support industry, I have consistently delivered positive results and Return on Investment (ROI). In the Service and support industry, our primary ROI is the time we return to the customer through efficient problem-solving. Minimizing downtime of valuable IT solutions, empowers employees to leverage IT solutions to optimize productivity and drive profitability for the business.



Along with being a transformational leader and innovative problem solver, I consistently create a collaborative environment around continual service improvement that incorporates:



- Customer Service Excellence - Create programs to enable customers to provide feedback on their experience with the Service Desk. Due to the success and value of customer engagement programs, they have been rolled out to other IT teams and departments.



- Service Delivery - Create clear and concise missions and visions for the team to understand our purpose and the why. Chose Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics that influence customer satisfaction and support cost. Consistently reduced incident resolution time and increased Service Desk incident resolution rate to enhance our customer satisfaction score and reduce support cost.



- Continual Process Improvement - Design rigorous programs that focus on quality. The programs enhance the quality of knowledge base management, promote compliance with processes and procedures, and streamline or automate workflows. Resulting in Service Level Agreements (SLAs) being met or exceeded 95% of the time.



- Automation - Implemented a chatbot solution that resulted in a 15% resolution rate and annual savings of $55k.



- Reporting and Analytics - Utilize data and quality assurance to make data driven decisions. Increase team's productivity by leveraging dashboards for data transparency. Each team member is able to visualize how they are contributing to the team's success. Use data to identify trends for root-cause analysis and problem prevention.



I'm also a quote enthusiast. My favorite quote is 'Effort is between you and yourself'.

Brady Terrents

Director, Information Technology

SAS

Passionate IT servant leader with 20+ years of experience in delivering and managing technical solutions that increase employee collaboration, drive personal productivity, and strengthen endpoint security. Strong team builder who effectively leads organizational change and puts people first. Modern Workplace technology enthusiast and trusted business partner. Certifications in Project Management Professional (PMP), ITIL Foundation (ITIL), Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), and Network+ Certified Professional (Net+).

Denys Diaz

CIO

TowneBank

Pamela Adams

Director Software Engineering

CloudBees

I am an accomplished Software Engineering leader with extensive expertise in object-oriented analysis, design, and development. I have a proven ability to assume new responsibilities swiftly and independently, consistently upholding high standards of quality. My skill set includes rapidly assimilating new concepts and performing effectively under pressure to meet stringent deadlines. I excel both in collaborative environments that involve multiple internal and external stakeholders and in individual contributions.