>> Announcer: Live from Las Vegas, it's theCUBE. Covering NAB 2017. Brought to you by HGST. >> Welcome back to The Cube, we are live from NAB 2017 on day three, live from Las Vegas. Excited to be joined by my next guest from Adobe, Laura Williams Argilla. Welcome to The Cube. >> Thank you so much for having me. >> You are the director of Product Management for Professional Video. >> Laura: Yes, I am. >> And you've been, you are focused on digital video and storytelling. It sounds like that's been a long-time passion of yours. >> Yes, I actually was raised in a family, my dad was a video person as well. He worked with educational technologies and helping connect people in remote areas with more populated areas for educational purposes. And he always had video gear around the house and was very passionate about watching movies and making television. And so he got me indoctrinated pretty young. And by the time I graduated from high school, I knew that I wanted to do something with media. And so I went to school for broadcasting. >> Wow, that's fantastic. So speaking of connectivity that your dad was able to facilitate, tell us about what Adobe is doing here at NAB 2017. What's the Creative Cloud? >> So the Creative Cloud is the suite of Adobe tools. And it is a collection of all of the tools that enable creativity from digital imaging to motion pictures to Photoshop and all of the core creative tools, and a collection of services that help enable the connection between those tools. At NAB this year, we're announcing the Creative Cloud additions, or updates to the video products including After Effects, Premiere, Premiere Pro, AME, Audition, and Speedgrade Prelude. The whole bundle. >> The whole bundle. So talk to us about the target audience for Creative Cloud. Is it the wannabe YouTube star? Or are we talking about broad spectrum or is it more focused on the kind of like the individual filmmaker? >> With the Creative Cloud, we actually have a really broad range of customers who we target. We target everybody from the aspiring YouTube creator who's just starting their channel, all the way up to some of the major motion pictures. Deadpool was edited in Premiere Pro, Hail, Caesar! by the Cohen Brothers was also edited in Premiere Pro, as was Gone Girl. And we continue to just see amazing adoption. Also, Premiere is broadly used in broadcasting environments, but that doesn't preclude us from also being incredibly functional for individuals or small groups. >> So if we look at kind of those target audiences as maybe the large and the small separately for a second, walk us through for the aspiring YouTuber, what are some of the benefits that person is going to get in comparison to the benefits that a creator of Deadpool would get for example? >> Sure, so I think, in general, there's a lot of overlap because they're both trying to tell stories, right? So you both start with raw footage and shape that into the story that you're trying to tell, and those tools work whether you're working on a motion picture or you're working on a YouTube channel. But I think there's certain things that we've introduced, like this year at the show, motion graphic templates, which give the opportunity to work with really powerful motion graphic effects in Premiere using simple sliders, the essential sound panel which also dramatically simplifies some of the most common audio corrections that a YouTuber or anybody would make, but especially for someone who maybe doesn't have the technical depth of being able to jump into Audition and figure out all those parameters. This is a single slider for adjusting multiple parameters to increase the overall quality of their audio with one quick move. For the broadcast and the high-end motion picture end, one of the things that we're really proud of with Adobe is that we work well with partners. We have a huge ecosystem of third-party partners, everything from asset management systems to audio enrichment systems, that you can access directly through Adobe through system panels that they can create to give direct access in our tools. And it really makes the workflow so much easier because you're not having to pop in and out of a system to get work done. >> One of the things that kind of popped up when you were talking about the commonality of benefits from the aspiring individual to a studio is how they gain efficiencies from this. Talk to us a little bit more about, with respect to the partner ecosystem, how the partnering with Adobe helps enable efficiencies across this whole production process. >> Absolutely. So one of the best examples that I can give for efficiency is the asset management systems that we can enable to have direct access for users inside of Premiere. So if I'm working with any number of asset management systems, instead of having to go and use a web interface or a client interface to access my files, that can be presented as though it is part of Premiere. So it feels like I'm getting just a panel, like a window that has a view directly into my asset management system, which makes it feel like a much more cohesive part of that workflow, and also it saves me the time. And as a former editor, I know that you lose thought process when you have to jump out of what you're doing to go get that asset and come back. With this process, the interface doesn't change. You get to stay right in Premiere and go pull the assets that you need for that. And it just makes it so much easier and so you end up spending a lot less time with the jumping between, getting back to the good state and remembering what you were doing also. >> That's a really interesting point that you bring up about how we look at technology as this facilitator, as this enabler, but also the cognitive process that an individual is responsible for whatever part of it has to go through is also facilitated by offloading some of these tasks and making it automated and simpler. That's not something that I think we've heard this week or kind of talked about it in that context, but that's quite important. >> It's very important, and I think as a creative person, you want to remain in your creative space as long as possible and you don't want to go into the administrative space of asset management. You want that to be handed to where you're working. And I do think that that constant shift of focus is really difficult to manage and stay in that productive space. So I think, to me, that's one of the biggest benefits of having these interconnected tools. >> Speaking of other benefits within Adobe from a content volume perspective, you guys are providing access to over 75 million stock images, videos, 3D assets, graphics. What does Adobe's cloud look like to be able to facilitate this quick access to things like that? >> So we have a really powerful architecture behind our cloud. Each part of the system is established to best serve that type of use, and the acquisition of Adobe Stock has been one of our prides and joys because it is, again, the direct access to millions of images and videos and you can access those directly through your product. So if I'm in Premiere and I need a stock image, I can search for stock images inside of Premiere and I can place that image and test it, it'll be watermarked. I can show it to you, say does this work? You say yes, and I can buy it without having to go through the process of replacing that image. I just click, buy, and it changes the image in place, letting me know that I've now purchased it or licensed it, which is, again, a huge time saver. But the infrastructure behind the cloud is really, wow, (laughs) it's large and scalable and we have incredible uptime service. We're very, very fortunate with the way that we've been able to manage that architecture. >> Do you find any of, is security a concern for, or are you finding it now that there's so much proficiency in, not only cloud technologies, but cloud users, that it's really not nearly as big of a concern as it was before? >> I think there used to be a lot more concern about it, and Adobe has made security a first priority for cloud assets, especially when we understand that your creative material is so much a part of your income, and it's yours, it's proprietary. You don't want other people to have access to it unless you choose to share it. So we have a full security team focused on making sure our assets remain safe. But in the past few years, we've seen an enormous shift in people's willingness to put assets in the cloud and data in the cloud. And I think as people become more comfortable with it because of the known quantity of what internet security looks like, what data security looks like, they're more comfortable with it and then they're able to reap the benefits of having that connective workflow, that they are not forced to manage, upgrade, maintain. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> Offloading that is always fantastic. Well Laura, thank you so much for stopping by theCUBE and sharing your wisdom of all your years of expertise at Adobe, and also before when you were kind of groomed by your dad. It was great to have you on the program today. >> Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure. >> Good. And we thank you for watching. Stick around, we're live from NAB 2017 on day three. I'm Lisa Martin. We'll be right back. (calm and smooth electronic music)

>> From Phoenix, Arizona, theCUBE. At Catalyst Conference. Here's your host, Jeff Frick. >> Hey, welcome back everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We are on the ground in Phoenix, Arizona at the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. A great little conference, about 400 people, it's going to be 600 next year. I think (inaudible), it's her fourth year. Rather than coming down and seeing what's going on, it seems to be a hot bed of of Women in Tech issues here in Phoenix. We were here two years ago for our first Grace Hopper conference so we're excited to come down and get a feel. And our next guest, Laura Williams, welcome. >> Thank you. >> So you are, as we said off camera, you're the lone government representative. You're the eDiplomacy Officer at the US Department of State. >> Right. >> So, first off, what is eDdiplomacy? >> eDiplomacy was founded by Secretary of State, Colin Powell. I actually started on the same day as he did at the State Department. We took different cars to work that day. But, I was a new hire when he was coming on at Secretary of State and he very quickly identified that State Department needed a tech upgrade. But he also combined that with a culture upgrade. He said, you know, "It's not just about needing new technology but it's needing new technology that allows us to collaborate." And he, sort of, blew peoples' minds when he said, "You know it's not about need to know anymore it's about need to share." State Department, still is a very bureaucratic, sort of, hierarchical culture. So, this initially didn't rest so well. People said there's no way, you know, the first thing that eDiplomacy did to bring in a Wiki into the internal part of the State Department's network. And I said, "Well, that will never work. We're a clearance culture and all this stuff." We have 22,000 Diplopedia articles, you know, running now. So, it did work. We brought blogs into the Department in order to tell stories across bureaucratic and geographical divides. I mean, if you think of the State Department, we're working in 190 countries and we have 275 offices spread throughout those countries. So, we needed collaboration we needed technology like this. >> So that's really interesting coming from Colin Powell you know, Head of the the Joint Chiefs, Chiefs, right? >> Yep. >> Just got off of war, going into the State Department. Which, still today there's this issues on, you know, Hillary's emails and this and that. It is a culture of need to know. So how did the barrier break down. >> Yeah. >> Did we have, like, the security overlay on the Wiki. >> Yeah. >> Did everything kind of happen, you know, outside or at some kind of great level in terms of clearance. >> Yeah. >> So it could, kind of, spread. That's really-- >> Yeah. >> --an interesting story. >> Two things: first of all when Colin Powell came to the State Department, most people didn't even have their Internet on their desktop. >> This probably-- >> This is in 2001. >> --probably a security-- >> Yeah. >> --was it a security thing or just-- >> --well, that's what everybody said. >> --old computers? >> That's what everybody said, right? >> Everybody said, "we can't do that, it's not secure." Well, Colin Powell- right, the guy who knows all about security, also happened to be on the board of AOL, right? And so, he knew technology and he knew that you could make it secure. It's not like the Department of Defense didn't have access to the Internet. He said, "Yeah, you got to make it secure. So we're talking about hardening the department's internal network and adding access to it, but of course, adding a layer of security on top of it." So, he, it took that kind of leadership, that personality to come in and say, "Oh yes, we will do this. And you all need to figure out how to do it But we will do it." >> But that's nothing compared to the cultural change though, right?-- >> The cultural change is the hardest. >> --to get people to publish. >> Right. >> So was there a couple of people who were just wildly successful. I mean how, again,-- >> Yeah. Yeah. >> --it's a complete mindshift. >> Yeah. I think that we haven't been totally successful, even all these years later, 15 years later there are definitely people that do not contribute to Diplopedia. There are people that definitely believe that information is power and they would rather share less than more. But, if you look at the world around you today and State Department does a lot of that, right? >> Right, right. >> It's out job to interact with people. Even that business of diplomacy has changed. It is no longer the Secretary of State meeting with the Foreign Minister of another country- Well, of course that happens and treaties are made but all of us now are expected to preform diplomacy. It's people to people diplomacy, not just envoy to envoy. And how do we do that, how do we do that on a massive scale? Technology. Of course, technology is a big part of that. >> Well, how do you do all the people that you're not interacting with at work? I mean-- >> Right. >> --that's what we see over and over again as the consumerization of IT, right, >> Yeah. >> and the expected behavior of things-- >> Yeah. >> --that work to behave like they are when I'm not work-- >> Yeah. >> I wonder if some of the -- >> Yeah. >> --younger people have come in-- >> Yeah. >> --to the government, like what, of course, you, why, why do we have these things? >> Right. It's an awesome source of friction (laughing) Can I say that, I mean, it is definitely a friction, like every other CIO of an organization as large as the State Department's. There is a constant worry about security. A constant worry about being able to manage a diverse tool set. But, if you don't provide the technology that your organization needs, you're going to create even bigger security problems. You're going to have a shadow IT. >> Right. Right. >> People are going to start using their person Gmail accounts instead of their State.gov accounts so we need to find ways to bring collaborative technology and technology that we use everyday in our personal lives, inside the safety of our network so that people have the kind of tools they need to do their jobs. >> That's great. We interviewed, Michelle K. Lee, who is the Under Secretary of Commerce at the USPTO Office. She came from Google, so again, another one of these kind of moves from the tech world into the government. But let's shift gears a little bit. Why are you here? What were you talking about here at this conference? >> Right, so, first of all, I've learned so much from being at this conference. You know, I was a little bit unsure when Adriana, the CEO of Girls in Tech, you know, invited me to talk as you mentioned, at the outset, I'm the only govie here. >> (laughing) The govie. >> So, I though, like, how is my story going to really resonate with the women that are present. And I spoke today, yesterday, story after story, presenter after presenter, I felt more and more confident I said, "Oh my goodness, the challenges are the same in private sector. They're the same if you're at a startup or at a big fancy company, like Intel or IBM. A lot of the stories are the same if you're in government so I'm just going to be authentic and tell my story." So, we did two things, we talked about, you know, IT innovation in government at the Federal level and how President Obama has invited, you know, West Coast high speed, low drag people to come help us fix our IT systems. But then I talked about my story. I had a degree in international ielations but moved out of that field in the mid 90s when it seemed everybody was doing something with tech. You know, it was an uncomfortable move at first because, you know, I was really wedded to whoa, I've studied international relations, I should be in this business. But I had one of those post-collegiate bubble bursting experiences where, you know, I was working at USAID and I thought, "I don't know this theory that I learned in school doesn't seem to be playing out in the field." And I shared an office with the IT guy, right? Uh, he was so annoying. You know. (laughing) But uh-- >> Funny how things work out, right? >> Right. So, a few months later he called me up. He said, "Hey, you still thinking about a career change, right?" Three years out of college, we have careers, right? So, I said," Yeah." And he said, "I'm in a different embassy every month. We're unplugging the old computer system, putting a new one in and we need you." And I said, "I don't know anything about tech." And he said, "But you know about the business. You've studied international relations. You are a people person. We need someone who can relate to people, who can sit in a meeting with the Ambassador and explain to him what the importance of tech rollout and explain it in plain language. Not in dorky, tech talk. And then we'll teach you the dorky, techy talk after-hours." I ended up really liking it. I liked that if there was a problem, I could fix it. And that has led to a career in the State Department where I'm certainly in between the org chart. The hardcore zero and one techies, they don't consider me a techie. The international relations majors that are doing the business of diplomacy, they're like, "You're not one of us either." But, I've made a sweet spot out of being in between orgs, org chart and it's really worked out for me. >> It's such a great story on so many levels. You are still in international relations-- >> Yes, very much so. >> --Except you work for the State Department. >> Yeah. >> It doesn't get much more international relations than that. >> Yeah. >> But you found your own niche. >> Yeah. >> And, I think a very important lesson for people considering a career in tech. You don't necessarily have to be a hardcore techie. >> Right. >> You don't have to know coding to get a job-- >> Yeah. >> --and get paid to play in this really fun and exciting and rapidly moving world. >> Yeah, that's true. There have been a lot of stories here over the past couple of days about that. There's a lot of people in that room who don't have a degree in engineering or computer science and in fact, I got to a place in my career where I stopped being shy about being that person who spoke both tech and International Relations and said, you know, in the State Department, you change your assignment every couple of years so you're constantly, sort of, lobbying or bidding for a new job. And I went to apply for a job in the operations center. That's the 24/7 nerve center of the State Department where we alert and brief the Secretary of State and other officials on events around the world. And, the guy interviewing me, who would later become my boss said, "You know, you're not a traditional candidate for this job." But, by this point in my career I said, "That's right. And that is exactly why I'm the best person for this job. Because I have this blend of skills that's going to take this place to the next level." So- >> And you got the job. >> I got the job and we changed the way, you know, the department receives, you know, alerts and briefs about events that are happening all around the world. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. >> Well congratulations. >> Thanks. >> Great story and really great inspiration for people looking for a great story. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> So I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your time, representing the government, representing the State Department here at the conference and thanks for stopping by theCUBE. >> Thanks so much. >> Absolutely. >> Thanks for having me. >> All right, Laura Williams, I'm Jeff Frick. You're watching the CUBE. We're at the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. Thanks for watching.