“We as humans can remember three things,” says Sheila Rohra, CEO of Hitachi Vantara. It is this rule of three, then, that is central to her formula for “staying focused”, as well as her approach to devising a strategy the whole company can “rally around”.

Rohra was appointed to her role in November 2023 after joining the data storage systems firm earlier in the year as chief strategy officer. As this week’s guest on Leadership Lessons, Rohra talks about how Hitachi Vantara is transforming its business, and the three-pronged strategy that is driving the company forward.

Maintaining focus is also a key imperative in the age of rapid AI adoption.

It’s crucial to keep a keen eye on the problem you were trying to solve with AI, says Rohra - and on whether you’re getting the ROI you were seeking. Otherwise, at a time when research suggests many organisations’ adoption of the tech is still being driven by short-term experimentation rather than long-term strategic planning, you risk overinvesting in the technology and causing “massive confusion, not to mention massive power consumption”.

From her first foothold in the high-tech industry, working on a production line assembling computers, Rohra has diversified her CV with roles spanning strategy, business operations and transformation.

Her first “significant” job focused on the latter was as chief transformation officer at data infrastructure company NetApp. This role taught her how much spearheading major organisational change initiatives is about “working with people, influencing”. With only five people on her direct team, the need to get wider employee buy-in and bring staff “along the journey” was immediately clear. “So that means listening, learning, providing a safe zone for conversations.”

This recognition of the integral role others play in achieving your objectives is also central to Rohra’s belief in the importance of staying “humble”. “It’s not because of my accomplishments alone [that I’m CEO],” she says. “It took support from my team, friends and family for me to get here. I did not accomplish this alone.”

Credits:

Producer: Inga Marsden

Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel

Artwork: David Robinson

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