In this episode Patrick and Shelli talk with Firasat Hussain, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at SnapCare. Firasat shares his 25-year journey through various technology leadership roles at companies like Ticketmaster, Orbitz, and RR Donnelley, emphasizing the significance of thoughtful leadership and iterative innovation. He describes his transition to SnapCare, where he is leading the integration of new AI tools and modern tech stacks to transform healthcare staffing. The discussion delves into Firasat’s leadership philosophies, the importance of trust and influence over demands, and his commitment to growth and learning, both personally and professionally.

• (00:00) Welcome to Firasat Hussain, CPTO at SnapCare
• (01:23) From Accounting to Technology: Firasat's Early Career
• (04:32) Transition to Healthcare Tech: Joining SnapCare
• (05:26) The Role of Technology in Healthcare Staffing
• (07:11) Personal Insights: Leadership and Growth
• (12:03) The Importance of Travel and Broader Perspectives
• (14:41) SnapCare's Mission and Operations
• (20:13) Balancing Leadership in Work and Family Life
• (24:18) The Power of Trust and Kindness Over Demands
• (27:07) Building Trust Through Honest Conversations
• (30:05) The Importance of Active Listening
• (32:23) Establishing Priorities and Reducing Cognitive Overload
• (37:59) Reflecting on Personal and Professional Growth
• (41:50) Final Thoughts

Firasat Hussain is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at SnapCare, a technology-driven healthcare staffing firm. His 25+ year career has spanned varied industries and organizations at a range of stages, from established global tech firms to promising startups. He was Chief Technology Officer at arrivia, VP of Software Engineering at Ticketmaster, and VP of Enterprise Architecture at RR Donnelley. He spent 10 years growing and leading at Orbitz Worldwide, with six years as Director of Hotel Product Development. He launched his early career at Cysive and Oracle.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.

In this compilation episode, we look back on wisdom from renowned tech executives about how to build and foster great teams. Featuring insights from Fred Lee, Dan Kirsche, Jorie Sax, Steve Caudill, Christina Garcia, and Dom Scandinaro, who share their perspectives on the importance of diverse and well-structured teams. Key topics include team composition, sharing knowledge, effective scaling, fostering interpersonal relationships, and creating rich organizational culture. These leaders emphasize the significance of nurturing talent and fostering diversity to build world-class teams capable of overcoming challenges and driving innovation.

• (00:00) Introduction to Building Teams
• (01:39) Fred Lee knows that great teams will naturally build great products
• (02:42) Dan Kirsche on building teams with complementary skills
• (03:07) Jorie Sax recommendations team-driven ideation
• (03:42) Steve Caudill champions diverse teams
• (04:17) Christina Garcia on owning and communicating mistakes
• (05:32) Jorie Sax discusses the balance of structure and freedom
• (06:57) Dom Scandinaro on scaling teams and workflows
• (07:59) Dan Kirsche on coaching to a teammate’s skillset
• (08:42) Jorie Sax unpacks interdepartmental communication
• (10:34) Christina Garcia on having a great culture
• (12:39) Fred Lee on cross-department connections
• (14:04) Dan Kirsche explains how he both challenges and supports his team
• (16:03) Christina Garcia reminds us to be in service of your team

Fred Lee is CTO at PartsSource. Dan Kirsche is the newly promoted CTO at Chamberlain. Jorie Sax is head of United Airlines Innovation Lab. Steve Caudill is former CTO at Rand McNally. Christina Garcia is SVP of Engineering at Echo Logistics. Dom Scandinaro is CTO at Cameo.

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Podcast episode production by Dante32.

At the start of last year, we had a really inspiring conversation with Chris Brown and are excited to reshare it this year, in our “Best Of” series. Originally published 01/25/24.

An exceptional company culture builds when steadfast employee commitment meets deep trust by customers. Chris Brown encountered this when he joined Relativity as Chief Product Officer in 2018. Chris joined the team in the early stages of their transition to SaaS and embraced the moment of disruption and opportunity—a familiar territory in his career, which included ten years at Orbitz Worldwide. From the perspective of CPO, Chris offers unique insights into the transition period from on-prem to SaaS, addressing legacy technology, embracing the customer as a co-innovator by building plentiful touchpoints, and the intricate SaaS sales process. Speaking on what SaaS can inimitably provide, Chris muses on “a continuous stream of innovation at high availability” and customer success.

In this episode, Chris looks ahead to the future to discuss how AI and LLMs will impact the law industry and finding effective uses for the technology. He shares how one of the oldest industries in the world can embrace the best of AI’s capabilities while mitigating the risks by including the law's critical element: human decision-making and validation.

With experience as a CEO and CPO, Chris shares the distinctions between the roles that stem from the needs of a particular company and offers how his arrival at Relativity reflected intentional scaling that led to further success. In discussing the Chicago startup environment and continued growth at Relativity, Chris talks about acquiring the contract review company Heretik and considering an acquisitive approach as one path of innovation and building a strong product portfolio.

• (02:24) – Introducing Chris Brown
• (04:56) – CPO vs. CEO
• (06:30) – Sales in the SaaS world
• (08:59) – Relativity
• (10:58) – Building an effective SaaS company
• (15:43) – Co-innovating with customers
• (17:59) – AI and the law industry
• (22:18) – Looking ahead
• (23:59) – An acquisitive approach

Chris Brown is the Chief Product Officer at Relativity, a cloud review software that helps users “organize data, discover truth, and act on it.” Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Orbitz Worldwide and CEO and Board Member of Kapow! Chris earned a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne.

If you'd like to receive new episodes as they're published, please subscribe to Innovation and the Digital Enterprise in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts. It really