(upbeat music) >> Hello, welcome to the Cube's coverage of International Women's Day 2023. I'm John Furrier, host of the CUBE series of profiles around leaders in the tech industry sharing their stories, advice, best practices, what they're doing in their jobs their vision of the future, and more importantly, passing it on and encouraging more and more networking and telling the stories that matter. Our next guest is a great executive leader talking about how to lead in challenging times. Krista Satterthwaite, who is Senior Vice President and GM of Mainstream Compute. Krista great to see you're Cube alumni. We've had you on before talking about compute power. And by the way, congratulations on your BPT and Black Professional Tech Network 2023 Black Tech Exec of the Year Award. >> Thank you very much. Appreciate it. And thanks for having me. >> I knew I liked you the first time we were doing interviews together. You were so smart and so on top of it. Thanks for coming on. >> No problem. >> All kidding aside, let's get into it. You know, one of the things that's coming out on these interviews is leadership is being showcased and there's a network effect happening in the industry and you're starting to see people look and hear stories that they may or may not have heard before or news stories are coming out. So, one of the things that's interesting is that also in the backdrop of post pandemic, there's been a turn in the industry a little bit, there's a little bit of headwind in certain areas, some tailwinds in cloud and other areas. Compute, your area is doing very well. It could be challenging. And as a leader, has the conversation changed? And where are you at right now in the network of folks you're working with? What's the mood? >> Yeah, so actually I, things are much better. Obviously we had a chip shortage last year. Things are much, much better. But I learned a lot when it came to going through challenging times and leadership. And I think when we talk to customers, a lot of 'em are in challenging situations. Sometimes it's budget, sometimes it's attracting and retaining talent and sometimes it's just demands because, it's really exciting that technology is behind everything. But that means the demands on IT are bigger than ever before. So what I find when it comes to challenging times is that there's really three qualities that are game changers when it comes to leading and challenging times. And the first one is positivity. People have to feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel to make sure that, their attitudes stay up, that they stay working really really hard and they look to the leader for that. The second one is communication. And I read somewhere that communication is leadership. And we had a great example from our CEO Antonio Neri when the pandemic hit and everything shut down. He had an all employee meeting every week for a month and we have tens of thousands of employees. And then even after that month, we had 'em very regularly. But he wanted to make sure that everybody heard from, him his thoughts had all the updates, knew how their peers were doing, how we were helping customers. And I really learned a lot from that in terms of communicating and communicating more during tough times. And then I would say the third one is making sure that they are informed and they feel empowered. So I would say a leader who is able to do that really, really stands out in a challenging time. >> So how do you get yourself together? Obviously you the chip shortage everyone knows in the industry and for the folks not in the tech industry, it was an economic potential disaster, because you don't get the chips you need. You guys make servers and technology, chips power everything. If you miss a shipment, it could cause a lot of backlash. So Cisco had an earnings impact. It has impact to the business. When do you have that code red moment where it's like, okay, we have to kind of put the pause and go into emergency mode. And how do you handle that? >> Well, you know, it is funny 'cause when it, when we have challenges, I come to learn that people can look at challenges and hard work as a burden or a mission and they behave totally different. If they see it as a burden, then they're doing the bare minimum and they're pointing fingers and they're complaining and they're probably not getting a whole lot done. If they see it as a mission, then all of a sudden they're going above and beyond. They're working really hard, they're really partnering. And if it affects customers for HPE, obviously we, HPE is a very customer centric company, so everyone pays attention and tries to pitch in. But when it comes to a mission, I started thinking, what are the real ingredients for a mission? And I think it's important. I think it's, people feel like they can make an impact. And then I think the third one is that the goal is clear, even if the path isn't, 'cause you may have to pivot a lot if it's a challenge. And so when it came to the chip shortage, it was a mission. We wanted to make sure that we could ship to customers as quickly as possible. And it was a mission. Everybody pulled together. I learned how much our team could pull off and pull together through that challenge. >> And the consequences can be quantified in economics. So it's like the burn the boats example, you got to burn the boats, you're stuck. You got to figure out a solution. How does that change the demands on people? Because this is, okay, there's a mission it they're not, it's not normal. What are some of those new demands that arise during those times and how do you manage that? How do you be a leader? >> Yeah, so it's funny, I was reading this statement from James White who used to be the CEO of Jamba Juice. And he was talking about how he got that job. He said, "I think it was one thing I said that really convinced them that I was the right person." And what he said was something like, "I will get more out of people than nine out of 10 leaders on the planet." He said, "Because I will look at their strengths and their capabilities and I will play to their passions." and their capabilities and I will play their passions. and getting the most out people in difficult times, it is all about how much you can get out of people for their own sake and for the company's sake. >> That's great feedback. And to people watching who are early in their careers, leading is getting the best out of your team, attitude. Some of the things you mentioned. What advice would you give folks that are starting to get into the workforce, that are starting to get into that leadership track or might have a trajectory or even might have an innate ability that they know they have and they want to pursue that dream? >> Yeah so. >> What advice would you give them? >> Yeah, what I would say, I say this all the time that, for the first half of my career I was very job conscious, but I wasn't very career conscious. So I'd get in a role and I'd stay in that role for long periods of time and I'd do a good job, but I wasn't really very career conscious. And what I would say is, everybody says how important risk taking is. Well, risk taking can be a little bit of a scary word, right? Or term. And the way I see it is give it a shot and see what happens. You're interested in something, give it a shot and see what happens. It's kind of a less intimidating way of looking at risk because even though I was job conscious, and not career conscious, one thing I did when people asked me to take something on, hey Krista, would you like to take on more responsibility here? The answer was always yes, yes, yes, yes. So I said yes because I said, hey I'll give it a shot and see what happens. And that helped me tremendously because I felt like I am giving it a try. And the more you do that, the the better it is. >> It's great. >> And actually the the less scary it is because you do that, a few times and it goes well. It's like a muscle that builds. >> It's funny, a woman executive was on the program. I said, the word balance comes up a lot. And she stopped and said, "Let's just talk about balance for a second." And then she went contrarian and said, "It's about not being unbalanced. It's about being, taking a chance and being a little bit off balance to put yourself outside your comfort zone to try new things." And then she also came up and followed and said, "If you do that alone, you increase your risk. But if you do it with people, a team that you trust and you're authentic and you're vulnerable and you're communicating, that is the chemistry." And that was a really good point. What's your reaction? 'Cause you were talking about authentic conversations good communications with Antonio. How does someone get, feel, find that team and do you agree with it? And what was your, how would you react to that? >> Yes, I agree with that. And when it comes to being authentic, that's the magic and when someone isn't, if someone's not really being themselves, it's really funny because you can feel it, you can sense it. There's kind of a wall between you and them. And over time people won't be able to put their finger on it, but they'll feel a distance from you. But when you're authentic and you share who you are, what you find is you find things in common with other people. 'Cause you're sharing more of who you are and it's like, oh, I do that too. Oh, I'm interested in that too. And build the bonds between people and the authenticity. And that's what people crave. They want people to be authentic and people can tell when you're authentic and when you're not. >> Is managing and leading through a crisis a born talent or can you learn it? >> Oh, definitely learned. I think that we're born knowing nothing and I once read people are nurtured into greatness and I think that's true. So yeah, definitely learned. >> What are some examples that can come out of a tough time as folks may look at a crisis and be shy away from it? How do they lean into it? What advice would you give folks? How do you handle it? I mean, everyone's got different personality. Okay, they get to a position but stepping through that door. >> Yeah, well, I do this presentation called, "10 things I Wish I Knew Earlier in my Career." And one of those things is about the growth mindset and the growth mindset. There's a book called "Mindset" by Carol Dweck and the growth mindset is all about learning and not always having to know everything, but really the winning is in the learning. And so if you have a growth mindset it makes you feel better about everything because you can't lose. You're winning because you're learning. So when I've learned that, I started looking at things much differently. And when it comes to going through tough times, what I find is you're exercising muscles that you didn't even know you had, which makes you stronger when the crisis is over, obviously. And I also feel like you become a lot a much more creative when you're in challenging times. You're forced to do things that you hadn't had to do before. And it also bonds the team. It's almost like going through bootcamp together. When you go through a challenge together it bonds you for life. >> I mean, you could have bonding, could be trauma bonding or success bonding. People love to be on the success side because that's positive and that's really the key mindset. You're always winning if you have that attitude. And learnings is also positive. So it's not, it's never a failure unless you make it. >> That's right, exactly. As long as you learn from it. And that's the name of the game. So, learning is the goal. >> So I have to ask you, on your job now, you have a really big responsibility HPE compute and big division. What's the current mindset that you have right now in your career, where you're at? What are some of the things on your mind that you think about? We had other, other seniors leaders say, hey, you know I got the software as my brain and the hardware's my body. I like to keep software and hardware working together. What is your current state of your career and how you looking at it, what's next and what's going on in your mind right now? >> Yeah, so for me, I really want to make sure that for my team we're nurturing the next generation of leadership and that we're helping with career development and career growth. And people feel like they can grow their careers here. Luckily at HPE, we have a lot of people stay at HPE a long time, and even people who leave HPE a lot of times they come back because the culture's fantastic. So I just want to make sure I'm contributing to that culture and I'm bringing up the next generation of leaders. >> What's next for you? What are you looking at from a career personal standpoint? >> You know, it's funny, I, I love what I'm doing right now. I'm actually on a joint venture board with H3C, which is HPE Joint Venture Company. And so I'm really enjoying that and exploring more board service opportunities. >> You have a focus of good growth mindset, challenging through, managing through tough times. How do you stay focused on that North star? How do you keep the reinforcement of the mission? How do you nurture the team to greatness? >> Yeah, so I think it's a lot of clarity, providing a lot of clarity about what's important right now. And it goes back to some of the communication that I mentioned earlier, making sure that everybody knows where the North Star is, so everybody's focused on the same thing, because I feel like with the, I always felt like throughout my career I was set up for success if I had the right information, the right guidance and the right goals. And I try to make sure that I do that with my team. >> What are some of the things that you could share as we wrap up here for the folks watching, as the networks increase, as the stories start to unfold more and more on digital like we're doing here, what do you hope people walk away with? What's working, what needs work, and what is some things that people aren't talking about that should be discussed publicly? >> Do you mean from a career standpoint or? >> For career? For growing into tech and into leadership positions. >> Okay. >> Big migration tech is now a wide field. I mean, when I grew up, broke into the eighties, it was computer science, software engineering, and three degrees in engineering, right? >> I see huge swath of AI coming. So many technical careers. There's a lot more women. >> Yeah. And that's what's so exciting about being in a technical career, technical company, is that everything's always changing. There's always opportunity to learn something new. And frankly, you know, every company is in the business of technology right now, because they want to closer to their customers. Typically, they're using technology to do that. Everyone's digitally transforming. And so what I would say is that there's so much opportunity, keep your mind open, explore what interests you and keep learning because it's changing all the time. >> You know I was talking with Sue, former HP, she's on a lot of boards. The balance at the board level still needs a lot of work and the leaderships are getting better, but the board at the seats at the table needs work. Where do you see that transition for you in the future? Is that something on your mind? Maybe a board seat? You mentioned you're on a board with HPE, but maybe sitting on some other boards? Any, any? >> Yes, actually, actually, we actually have a program here at HPE called the Board Ready Now program that I'm a part of. And so HPE is very supportive of me exploring an independent board seat. And so they have some education and programming around that. And I know Sue well, she's awesome. And so yes, I'm looking into those opportunities right now. >> She advises do one no more than two. The day job. >> Yeah, I would only be doing one current job that I have. >> Well, kris, it was great to chat with you about these topics and leadership and challenging times. Great masterclass, great advice. As SVP and GM of mainstream compute for HPE, what's going on in your job these days? What's the most exciting thing happening? Share some of your work situations. >> Sure, so the most exciting thing happening right now is HPE Gen 11, which we just announced and started shipping, brings tremendous performance benefit, has an intuitive operating experience, a trusted security by design, and it's optimized to run workloads so much faster. So if anybody is interested, they should go check it out on hpe.com. >> And of course the CUBE will be at HPE Discover. We'll see you there. Any final wisdom you'd like to share as we wrap up the last minute here? >> Yeah, so I think the last thing I'll say is that when it comes to setting your sights, I think, expecting it, good things to happen usually happens when you believe you deserve it. So what happens is you believe you deserve it, then you expect it and you get it. And so sometimes that's about making sure you raise your thermostat to expect more. And I always talk about you don't have to raise it all up at once. You could do that incrementally and other people can set your thermostat too when they say, hey, you should be, you should get a level this high or that high, but raise your thermostat because what you expect is what you get. >> Krista, thank you so much for contributing to this program. We're going to do it quarterly. We're going to do getting more stories out there, so we'll have you back and if you know anyone with good stories, send them our way. And congratulations on your BPTN Tech Executive of the Year award for 2023. Congratulations, great prize there and great recognition for your hard work. >> Thank you so much, John, I appreciate it. >> Okay, this is the Cube's coverage of National Woodman's Day. I'm John Furrier, stories from the front lines, management ranks, developers, all there, global coverage of international events with theCUBE. Thanks for watching. (soft music)

>> Welcome back everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. It's International Women's Day 2018. There's a ton of events happening all over the world. Check the social media stream, you'll be amazed. But we're excited to be here, downtown San Francisco, at the Accenture event. It's called Getting to Equal, 400 people, it's a packed house here at the Hotel Nikko, and we're really excited to have the authors of some really important research here as our next guests. This is Julie Sweet, the CEO of North America for Accenture. Good to see you, Julie. >> Great, thanks for having me today. >> And Ellyn Shook, the Chief Leadership and HR Officer at Accenture. Great to see you. >> Thank you, Jeff. >> All right. So Ellen, I want to start with you just cause I noticed your title, and I wrote it down, I've never seen, we do hundreds of events, thousands of interviews, I've never seen Chief Leadership and HR. Where did that title come from, and why is "Leadership" ahead of "HR"? That's a pretty significant statement. >> It is, it is, and Accenture's a talent-led business, and part of being a talent-led business is growing our people to grow our business, so leadership and leadership development is essential to our business. It's a core competency of ours, and that's why my title is Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer. >> And Leadership before HR, meaning you really need people to get out in front. >> Yes. >> It's not about compliance, >> Yes, leaders at all levels. >> and this and that, leaders of all levels. >> Correct, correct. >> Okay, so let's talk about the research. >> Sure. >> It says, "When she rises, we all rise." I think it's pretty common, and everybody knows hopefully by this point, that diversity of opinion, diversity of teams, leads to better business outcomes. So what specifically is this piece of research, and give us a little background. >> Sure, the research, I think, is groundbreaking because never have I seen a piece of research that looks at the cultural aspects of an organization and really helps to articulate very transparently, what are the biggest accelerators in a culture for equality? And that's what the research is about. >> And you've identified, and is this an ongoing research, is this the first time it's been published, is it kind of an annual thing? >> Every year we publish a piece of research about gender equality, and this year we put a different lens on it to really look at equality for all. >> So you've identified 40 kind of key areas, but of those 40, really 14 are the big hitters. Is that accurate? >> That's correct. >> So what are some of those 14? >> Well, I would put them, we've put them in three categories. The first is bold leadership, so think about companies like Accenture who set targets and have CEOs who are very clear about their priorities. The second is comprehensive action, so think about policies and practices that are really effective. And then finally third, which I think is often under focused on, which is an empowering environment. What does it feel like to be at work every day? Do they ask you to dress a certain way? Is there flexible time for all? And it's the combination of these 14 factors that really makes a difference about creating a culture of equality where men and women advance. And what was really impressive is we saw that, in companies with these factors, women were five times more likely to advance to director or senior manager, and men were two times more likely. And so it really is about, when she rises, all rise, and that is probably one of the most exciting things about the research. >> It's really interesting, we just had Lisa on from The Modist, and you know, I would never have thought of clothing and dress as such a significant factor, but you've got that identified in that third bucket that you mentioned. And in fact, it's the number one attribute. So what are some of the other surprises that kind of came out of the research? >> Well, I think one of the surprises was that companies that, as part of comprehensive action, that implemented maternity leave only, it actually had a negative effect on women's advancement. But where companies implemented parental leave, so it was for men and women, it eliminated that negative bias. And it really goes to the importance that these policies, and actions, and the focus need to be about women and men. And when you start putting women too much in a category, like flex time is a mommy track, as opposed to flex time being something that men and women commonly do, it really changes how it feels to, does it feel inclusive every day at work? >> Right. >> Yeah, so companies really need to, I think what the research showed very strongly is that companies need to look at programs, policies, practices, and an environment that levels the playing field rather than isolating any particular gender or other form of diversity. >> But it's interesting, kind of law of unintended consequences, I think that panel that you were on earlier, one of the gentlemen said, since the not me, there's been reports of, >> Me too. >> for me too, excuse me, a lot of hashtags today. That there's been people doing, men scared of mentoring maybe that they weren't before. I don't know how true that is, but no it is kind of interesting to think, are there some kind of counter balances, as you said, if there's just maternity and not parental leave that need to be thought about? That probably people aren't thinking it through that far. >> Well and I think, one of the things as we saw in the research is that it's not about also one action, and so the way that companies really create a culture of equality is it's a combination of these factors. And you said something when we first started that I think is really important, and that was, you said, well it's really commonly known that diversity is important. And I think that people do need to understand that, we are optimistic about where we are today because, as a company, we're constantly in the c-suite. We serve in the U.S., 3/4 of the fortune 500, and as much as we're talking as a leader in digital disruption and artificial intelligence, the conversation quickly turns to people, to talent, to diversity, and so there's a real business lens that's on this, and that's the context in which we're operating. >> Right, and we can go to Grace Hooper, we do a ton of women's events as well as large conventions. And most people, I think, hopefully have figured it out, that it's not just about doing the right thing, it's about actually having better business outcomes. You get better outcomes with diversity of opinions, diversity of teams, you think about things that you just wouldn't think about. You don't have that same experience, everybody has a bias from where they come from, so you want to get some other people and have different points of view, different lenses to look at things. So it is really important. But why do you think things feel like they're changing now? What's important about, March 8th, 2018, versus say a year ago when you started doing some of this research? Is it the tipping point that it feels like, or? >> I think there's a couple of factors that are coming together right now. First of all, we're living in the digital age, and the digital age is all about innovation and innovation fast. And as you just said, you cannot innovate without diversity. Diversity is a form of, you're able to tap into creativity, and it's a source of competitive advantages for organizations in this age. But also what's happening in culture around the world, the me too movement as well as other things that are occurring for women around the world, and it's a moment in time where a movement can really start to happen. And I think, companies who look at culture as an accelerator of change are going to be the winners. >> Right, so what impacted bold leadership? We had from the Golden State Warriors on earlier and I think there's, what's great about sports teams is we all get to see them do their business. And we get to see the scoresheet at the end of the day, we don't necessarily get to see that in other companies. But really a fantastic example of new leadership coming in, made bold sweeping changes, probably a little bit of luck, which most success stories have, but you know significant top-down culture change. So how do you see cultures changing with bold leadership and old-line companies? Can the old guard flip? Do they need to bring in new blood? How are people executing bold leadership? >> Well first of all, I do think that it's not about old-line, it's not about young, it's really about leadership. And so it is very dependent on who is the CEO and what kind of a board we have, and so, we don't, both of us don't subscribe to the idea that you have to be born digital to be have a great culture >> To be digital. >> Yeah to be digital. And I would say that, one of the key things we saw in the study was around transparency of goals. And we talk a lot at Accenture about transparency creates trust. And so when you think about, how do you change a culture? Bold leadership is in part to find in the research by the willingness to set public goals, and to be transparent and that creates the trust. The trust of your employees, and the trust of the people you want to attract. And what I often will say that is, when we put out our statistics in the U.S, we're the first professional services firm, it wasn't that we had phenomenal statistics, but the fact that we were willing to put them out created trust that we were trying to change. And it helped people want to be a part of that change. >> Right. I mean you know that, you guys are in this business, if you can't measure it, you can't improve it. It's interesting, the Anita Borg organization puts out a self-assessment, we do their show, and Grace Hopper, to have companies. Again, not necessarily that they're going to score high but at least they recognize the problem, they're trying to measure it, they're trying to set a base line and make moves. We've heard that from Brian at Intel, Intel's making moves. And you guys have made a very definitive statement, write a line in the sand, at 2025, you're going to hit 50%. I believe that's the goal. >> Correct. And not only do we say that we're going to do it but we're doing something about it. And a lot of companies will say they want to achieve gender equality, but it's actually the actions that you take every single day. And then, of course, reporting on your progress, whether it's what you wanted to see or not, just the full transparency around the scorecard is important. >> Yeah, it's so critically important cause again, if you can't measure it, you can't change it. So great event here, as you look forward into 2018, I still can't believe we're a quarter of the way in to the year, it shocks me. (laughs) What are some of the priorities for 2018, if we sit down here again a year from now, where will you have moved on that measure, what are some of the things that are your top priorities around this initiative this year? >> Well I know for me, we certainly are trying to make sure that we continue to make progress, but I also think there's a growing conversation about the intersectionality of diversity, and so, it's women in color, it's race and the workforce, and so. We're a global company, but certainly in the U.S, which is part of the business I lead, we are not only focusing on gender, but the intersectionality of diversity and on race. >> Yeah and I think just broadening the conversation from gender diversity to true equality for all is really the big push for us here at Accenture now. And I think it's essential that no part of our organization or no individual gets left behind. And that's what we're really focused on. >> Well that's great, and so I want to thank you for having us, and wish you well in 2018, and really a fantastic event and super, super initiative. >> Come back in 2019 and we'll show you our progress. >> Alright. >> Exactly. >> She's Julie, she's Ellyn, and I'm Jeff, you're watching theCUBE from International Women's Day at the Accenture event in downtown San Francisco. Thanks for watching.

>> Hey, welcome back everybody, Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We're in downtown San Francisco at the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference. It's the 28th year, Jackie Speier started it a long time ago and now it's grown to 6,000 people. It's a pretty amazing conference, it crosses all indrustries and actually a lot more than California as well. And we're excited to actually have somebody to come talk to us about the conference itself. It's Deepti Srivastava, she's a Project Manager of Google Cloud from Google. Great to see you again, last we saw you, I looked it up was 2014 >> I know. >> at Topcoder Open. >> Indeed. >> And you were doing great work then, you were on a panel with a bunch of high school girls. I remember they'd bust in a couple of busloads of high school girls and you and a couple other mainly young professional women talkin' to 'em about the life of an engineer. So you're still doin' good things. >> I hope so. (laughs) >> Absolutely. >> I hope so, yeah, it's a passion of mine and I'm really happy to bring it to something like PBWC where I'm on the board. And we do a bunch of work across industries and across all levels. PBWC's mission is to work for gender equity and equal pay for women across all industries and in all professional settings. >> Right. >> That includes young professionals, as well as the pipeline of professionals coming in. >> That's terrific. So we could talk about your day job all day long. (Deepti laughs) Google Cloud's kickin' tail, you guys had your big conference a couple weeks back-- >> Here in fact. (chuckles) >> Here in Moscone West, right? >> Yeah. >> But in terms of what you're doing here with PBWC, give us a little bit of the history. So we know it was started by Jackie Speier, I think you said 1988. >> Yeah. >> That's just amazing. >> I know. >> Obviously it's much more than California. >> Yeah. >> But what is the top-level mission and how has the conference evolved over the last several years? >> So Professional BusinessWomen of California, as you said was started by Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Judy Bloom, who's a co-founder. And we still exist and we've been doing this for so long and we really care about our mission, which is to work for basically gender equity and equal pay as I said, for all professional settings for women. And in this particular case, this conference we are talking about inclusion. And we chose this theme because we really think it's pertinent to what's going on right now in the world and in our country. And we, PBWC, believe that the things that unite us, the potentials and aspirations that unite us are greater than our differences and things like that. So we want to make a statement and really address the inclusion work that we do, and the inclusion work that's required for all of us to really move forward as a country and as a people. And if you look at our lineup of speakers today, we really do walk the talk that we're talking about. We have amazing speakers today with Rosario Dawson to Taraji P. Henson and all the way to Secretary Clinton who's closing out our day today, we are so excited to have her. And there's nobody better to represent breaking the glass ceiling than she has so we're very excited to hear. >> And what a get, I think I heard that it's her first public speaking engagement post the election. >> Yeah, I know. And it's very exciting because again, I think we're all about coming together and rallying and being a force for good. The conferences, that's our aim ultimately as an organization. And having her here to give her speech, first public appearance after the election last year, very exciting I think. >> Right, right. >> And we're very excited to hear from her. I'm already inspired by the thought that she's going to be here. >> And really a big part of the theme was kind of the strategy work is done, everybody knows it's good. Now it's really time for the rubber to hit the road. It's about execution and about taking steps and measuring. And a lot of the real concrete, nuts-and-bolts activities that need to happen to really move this thing down the road. >> You mean like gender equity and-- >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely. I think it's been a topic for awhile and I think, exactly, we need to have the rubber hit the road, we have to get together, we have to have actionable plans and that's what a bunch of our seminars today talk about. How to address those things in your, we really want to empower women and actually people of all backgrounds and ages and all sorts of people to take charge of their own lives. And especially, we are a professional women conference so that's kind of where we focus our messaging. But really we want women to take control of their own lives and we want to give them the tools, the networking opportunities, the inspirations to meet their aspirations in those fields. And so we want them to take charge and move forward by themselves, take away from here and go back to your job, to your work, to your home, to really bring your messaging forward. Take inspiration from here and bring it back to your life. >> Right, and I think Bev Crair, in the keynotes said, "Fill your well today." >> Yeah. >> 'Cause as soon as you leave here it's back to the grind and you're going to need that energy. So while you're here surrounded by this energy and your peers, take it all in and load up. >> Absolutely. And I also want to say that we started out as a conference, an annual conference, and that's definitely our marquee thing that we do every year. But we actually have a lot more offerings that people can continue to engage over the year. So we have webinars and seminars that people can attend, there's community events that happen here. And you can go to the PBWC website and see what all offerings we have. But we want people to engage and we want to be able to provide them with the means to engage throughout the year, not just here but take this, everything you get today and then take it along the rest of the year and recharge yourself. >> It's kind of this whole 365 concept which we talk about on theCUBE a lot too, 'cause we go to so many shows. And there's a huge investment of time and energy and money on those two or three days, but how do you extend that out beyond the show? How do you build the excitement leading into the show so it's not just a one time kind of a shot, then everything goes back to normal? >> Yeah exactly, I think that's exactly the point, that this is not just a one day, you go there, you get inspired and then what next, right? >> Right. >> There's something you can go back to with our various offerings and continue your learning journey if that's what you want, or networking journey if that's what you want to do. Wherever you are in your career, we actually have a Young Women's Professional Summit that I have the honor of chairing, that we have every year and it's meant to help young professional women navigate their way from being in college and high school and those entering a professional life so as I said, we want to cater to all levels and all ages and all sorts of challenges that people face as they're going through their professional careers. >> So that's a separate event? >> It is, it is an annual conference. >> And when is that? Give a plug. Or do you have a date? (Deepti chuckles) >> Yeah, we don't have a date yet but it's going to be in the summer. >> In the summer, okay great. Well I think when we met last, I thought that was such an important piece of that Topcoder Open because it wasn't the Sheryl Sandbergs or the Hillary Clintons or these super mega top-of-the-pyramid people. It was a bunch of young professionals, one of the gals was still in school, hadn't finished graduating, to make it so much real for those high schoolers. They didn't have to look so far to say, "I could see myself, I kind of look like that person, "I kind of see things touch." >> And I think that's very important, Jeff. Exactly. It's very important and that's what we try to do here at PBWC as well. We want to go from catering to the Millennials and how we interact with them and all the way up to C-suite, we had a Senior Leadership Summit yesterday leading up to the conference today where we have a bunch of C-suites and CDOs, Chief Diversity Officers, come together and talk about trending topics and how to solve them. So we really are trying to move the needle forward on many fronts here, but our aim is all of that to culminate into moving women and people of all backgrounds forward. >> Right. And then there's this whole entrepreneurial bit which you can't see behind the camera, but there's booths all over for Intel and LinkedIn and Microsoft and the names that you would expect, Google of course, but there's also all the little boutiques, clothing stores and jewelry stores and crafty things. There's even of course women-focused snacks with the Luna Bars and I forget the other one. (chuckles) So it's kind of a cool entrepreneurial spirit kind of on top of everything else. >> Absolutely. And you know Jackie Speier, Congresswoman, started this conference to help women who were in the SMB, sort of SME market, basically women who ran small businesses. And we want to continue to do that as well but now of course the world is changing and we have a much more of a corporate presence and we want to help there too. But yeah, we pay homage to that by having women who are women entrepreneurs running women-focused businesses, and we have them here in the expo area if you can get a shot of that later. >> Right. >> The energy is palpable, the excitement is there and it's so great to be here and harness that, and take it back, I mean the first time I was here many years ago when I was not even on the board, I was just like, oh my gosh, there's so many women here who are like me or who are, they're people I could look up to all the way up to the C-suite who are making their presence felt here. And also all the people around me and like-minded, like me. So it's a really inspiring event. And I've been here for many years but I'm still inspired by it. So I'm so excited that we do this and continue to do this. >> So, little harder to question. So, and you've been doing this for awhile, what surprises you on the negative that still you know, you're still fighting that battle that you wouldn't have expected to still be doing? And then conversely what has surprised you on the positive, in terms of what's moved maybe further than you might've thought or faster than you might've thought? >> That's a good question. I think you already nailed it, right. The fact that we are still here talking about this is interesting to me, and as I got more involved in this kind of work I realized that people have been doing this for a long time. Congresswoman herself has been doing this for so long and a fearless advocate for women's rights and equal pay and diversity and inclusion. And the fact that we are still here, it is indicative of the fact that we need to have a groundswell movement in order to change policy. We can talk about it all we want but unless there's actionable things you can take away and really have that grassroots-level work to push the envelope forward, it's not going to happen. I think the positive is, as I've seen this conference over the years, it's grown. And it's gotten a lot more young people involved and it's not just the senior leadership that is trying to pull people forward, it's the people starting out early in their careers or mid-level in their careers that are looking at taking charge of their own destiny and pushing their agenda forward in this sense. They want, they're asking for equal pay. They're really engaged and aware. And conferences like PBWC actually help with that, getting those minds together and making things move forward. So I think from a positive side I'm really excited to see so many more people engaged in this fight. And the more people we have, the more we can actually make real progress and real inroads. >> And if you look back, as someone who's never been here and then they see this interview and they say, "This looks awesome, I'm going to sign up," what do you think the biggest surprise when they come for the first-timer? >> I'll tell you what I was surprised by, is seeing so many women together across industries, across ages, across backgrounds. Everybody together, really wanting to move forward. They're really wanting to engage, to connect with each other and to actually make a difference. People are here to make a difference, right? >> Right, right. >> And that's, to say that 6,000 people come together and really all of them have that same sort of mentality of like yes, I'm empowered to make a difference, is electrifying. >> Deepti, I love the energy. >> (laughs) Thank you. >> I love the energy, absolutely. >> It's all these people. >> It is. >> Trust me, I'm sleep deprived (Jeff laughs) with my very young son. So yeah, this is all the energy that I need to feed off of. >> No, it's good. And there is something special here. >> Mm-hmm. >> And you can feel it. 'Cause we go to a lot of shows, you go to a lot of shows. And again, it's not an exclusive tech show which is kind of nice 'cause we cross a lot of industries. But there's definitely, there's an energy, there's a vibe that comes from the little entrepreneurial outlets, it just comes from the, that room was packed. The keynote room was... >> I know. >> Was not fire marshal friendly. (Deepti laughs) Hopefully the fire marshal was not close by-- >> Yes, we had some discussion on that too. But to your point, this is one of the conferences that I've seen where we really, perhaps the only conference I've seen where we really cut across all industries. Because there's tech-focused, there's business-focused, there's all sorts of focused conferences trying to do either their professional work on technology or whatnot, or they're trying to solve the problem on the gender and diversity and inclusion piece in their own silos. And we try to cut across so that we can actually have a coming together of all of these various industries and their leaders, thought leaders, sharing ideas and sharing best practices so that we can actually all move forward together, I think that's again our Senior Leadership Summit which happened last night and the VIP reception which happened last night is all about getting those thought leaders together and getting them to share their best practices and ideas so that again, they can take it back to their companies and really move forward with DNI initiatives. >> It's action right, it's all about the action. >> Absolutely. >> So I promise next time that we talk, we'll talk about Google Cloud. >> Oh, sure. >> 'Cause that's hoppin'. (Deepti laughs) But it was great to see you and congratulations on all your work with the board and with your event >> Thank you. >> in the summer. People should go to the website, keep an eye out. >> Absolutely. >> It'll be comin' out. >> Yeah. >> So thank you. >> Thank you so much, it was great to see you too, Jeff. >> Absolutely. Alright she's Deepti, I'm Jeff, you're watching theCUBE. We're at the Professional BusinessWomen of California Conference. The 28th year, pretty amazing, 6,000 people. Here at Moscone West, thanks for watchin'. (upbeat techno music)

(clicking) >> Hey, welcome back everybody. Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. It looks like they're letting the general session out. We're here at the Professional Business Women of California Conference; 6,000 women, about 5% men really talking about, it's amazing, the 28th year. I've never been to this show about how women can get more inclusive and diversity and taking, executing on steps to actually make it happen as somebody said in the key note. It's not a strategy problem, it's an execution problem. So, we've got a great story here and we're really excited to have CUBE alumni, Andrea Ward. She's now the CMO of Magento Commerce. Welcome back, Andrea. >> Thank you so much, it's great to be here and great to be at this conference. The buzz is amazing and I was here two years ago and it's grown so much, just in the two years. >> How many people were there, they say it's 6,000, now. >> I mean, it looks like it's about doubled. I don't know what the numbers were two years ago but the participation is amazing and it's such a great opportunity for local businesses to bring employees from their companies, have them have a chance just to talk and learn from such powerful women. So, it's been a really great conference. >> And, it's also a cross of so many kind of verticals if you will, because you know we go to a lot of tech conferences. This is more kind of a cross industry with banking and insurance and, you know, United Airlines we talked to earlier. And so, it's a much more diverse kind of set. >> Absolutely, I mean the women on the panels this morning spanned legal professions, government, entertainment, business, really diverse issue and it's fantastic that women are coming together to support each other to help make a difference. >> So last we saw you, I think we were on the street on Howard Street a couple years back which was pretty exciting as well, but now your new company, Magento Commerce. So, for people who aren't familiar with the company, give them kind of the four-one-one. >> Yeah great, well Magento Commerce is a leading commerce technology platform for mid-size businesses. We have recently separated from Ebay about 15 months ago and are now a privately held company and we power about a third of the world's commerce, believe it or not. >> That is amazing. Yeah. >> A third of the world's eCommerce. >> That's right. So, it's a fantastic company. We're growing and a part of that growth is absolutely growing a more diverse workforce and we've been putting into place some initiatives since last year. >> Yeah, part of the key note conversations were, obviously, that you need to put goals down on paper and you need to measure them and I think it was Bev Crair from Intel talked about, you know, doing it across all the pay grades. It's not just in engineering or just on the board or just the executive ranks, but really all the way across and it sounds like you guys are executing that to really help you just grow the company generically. >> Well, we're in a very lucky position in that we're experiencing growth and so that gives us room to really go out and look for amazing talent across the board. And so, we put a focus on diversity and inclusion and by doing that, we've increased the percentage of women in all roles across the company by 50% and that's since last June. So I think, you know, really just what you said earlier about execution and putting some numbers and goals against that can really make a difference. >> Right, and if you hadn't had those, that execution detail you probably couldn't have grown that fast because let's face it, it's hard to get good talent. If you're not including a broader base of talent, you're not going to be able to achieve your goals. >> Well, that's right and I think that some of that is, I don't know if you want to call it unconscious bias or unintentional, we're used to hiring people that look like us, have experience like us. And so, by encouraging that diversity, it really has made us expand the pool of applicants, make sure that we're not going for the easiest choice or the simplest choice but really considering a wide range of candidates to fill those positions. >> You know, I don't the birds of a feather conversation comes up enough, it's just easy to go with what you're familiar with. So whether it's unconscious or not, it's just easy, people are busy, you want to check the box and get off to your next task. So, you have to take a step back and consciously do the extra work, take the extra effort. >> Well, in the industry we support, the industries we support are going through digital transformation, I mean, commerce is key and central to digital transformation. And, transformation and change means that you have to consider other perspectives. You need to learn from new ideas and I think, you know, diversity plays a big part in that as well. So, I think bringing that into our own company because we're supporting that broader industry has been very important. >> Right. So, I want to take that opportunity to pivot on what you just said about in terms of the changing role of commerce. You know, I often think of like banks because in a bank, you know, your relationship was with your local branch; maybe you knew the banker, maybe you knew a couple of the tellers whatever, but you had a personal connection. Now, most people's engagement with the brands they interact with is electronic and via their phone and it's interesting that you say that. And, it's the commerce around those engagements, that the commerce is becoming the central point of gravity if you will and the relationship is spawning all from that. >> Well, I mean, personal connections are still very important and commerce I feel is like the moment where a conversation really turns into a relationship. So, it's important that those digital experiences, the customer experiences really make up the right connection with the brand. And so, that seamless interaction between what happens at the branch, for example in the financial example, on what you can do at home, that needs to be very cohesive. It needs to be trustworthy, it needs to be authentic and that means businesses need to create individual experiences that really reflect their brand. And, our company specifically has really helped businesses create those experiences, seamless experiences and translated them from digital to in-store or in the branch. I think the biggest change now is how that's starting to impact business-to-business relationships, I think. >> In what way? In the consumer world, we're used to that now right? We're all doing that in our everyday experiences. Now, we're starting to see that also come into a business-to-business relationship. So, just like the seamless conveniences that you have online in your day to day life, people want to see that in the workplace, too. And so, we're seeing the biggest change now in those types of business models. >> They're rocking in the background, if you can't hear them. >> Yeah! We are here. >> Yeah! You know, it's funny, I just saw, something come across the feed talking about that annoying business-to-business add in Instagram, but then aren't you glad you saw it? >> Yeah. >> So, it's interesting how, you know, the B to C norms, you know, continue to help define what's going on in the B to B space and we've seen it in Enterprise Software Applications and Cloud and the flexibility and speed of innovation. It just continues to really drive the business-to-business relationship. >> Yeah, and I think just like in the business-to-consumer world, it has started with content in business-to-business. But, now people want to move from just learning and knowledge to actually transacting which means that companies need to enable specialized price list, account management, things like that and that's starting to surface in the commerce world as well. So, we're really excited about that and we're going to be sharing some of that at our conference next week; Imagine, in Las Vegas. >> Okay yeah, it's amazing how fast. It was not that long ago, we were just trying to get the 360 view. Right? We were just trying to pull from all the various desperate systems to know who that customer was for a given system. Now, it's a segmentation to want, a very different challenge. >> Right, I mean it's that change from thinking about trying to attract your customer to come to your business to really bringing the business to the customer. I mean, I think that's what some of this digital technology is allowing us to do. We're going to them rather than trying to draw them in to come to us, if that makes sense. This idea of commerce coming to you, right? >> And, it's got to come to you with something that's relevant, that's topical, that's timely. >> That's easy to execute, that can mirror a real experience. I mean, you hear a lot of things about, things like virtual reality, artificial intelligence. I mean, all of that's just gimmicks unless you can actually think about how you make that real for your brand. So, for example, we have a customer in Mexico City who is selling eyewear, right. And so, everybody when they buy glasses, they want to try them on, so we need to help them give their customers that virtual experience. If they can't come into the store and try them on, we want to be able to let them try them on at home. So, that's a natural extension of the brand and a way to use virtual reality and I think businesses are still trying to figure that out. But, if those customers didn't have that experience, it'd be less likely that they actually would buy or, you know, make a commerce transaction. >> But, if I'm hearing you, instead of it really kind of being in a marketing effort that then it's completed with a transaction, you're kind of coming at that which you just described from the transaction first and this is really a supporting or an enabling activity. >> That's right, it all starts with the customer understanding what is going to help them make their decisions. Giving them experiences that feel seamless, giving them options. So, if they want to come in-store but see what's maybe available at another store for pick-up or if they want to come in-store and order online or if they want to order from home and then go into the store and pick it up. It's really about giving the customer the right options for them. >> Right. >> Another great story we had is, I mean, how many of us travel, I know you travel a lot. >> Right. >> I travel a ton. >> Especially, to Vegas. (chuckling) >> Especially, to Vegas! And, you know, my kids are always expecting something when I come home but who has time? So, you know, one of our partners worked with the Frankfurt Airport and created an application where on the way to the airport, you can go shopping at all of their stores in the airport and have your package waiting for you at the gate on the way to the plane. So now, you know, they've figured out what their customers want to do first by creating this great shopping experience at the airport. Now, they know people are running through the airport, how can we extend that shopping experience for them while they're sitting in the taxi (chuckling) on the way, have it waiting for them at the gate? And so, for me personally, working for a company that's helping customers to do those kinds of things has really been fun. >> Right, because they always have the liquor for ya ready to go at the gate but never the kids', you know, t-shirts or a little tchotchke or, I can remember running through Heathrow time and time again trying to find something quickly. >> Yeah, and now with two kids and a husband that all want something different, (laughing) you know, it makes it much easier for me. >> Alright, Andrea, well you've been doing this marketing thing for a long time. I'll give you the last word both on the conference and kind of, you know, as a marketer to see where we're going with A.I. and really the ability to actually segment to one. You know, how exciting is that for you? >> Yeah, I mean, it's fantastic. I think, you know, marketers want to create relationships with their brand and all of these tools are giving us better access, better chance to create that fantastic experience. So, it's a great time to be a marketer. (chuckling) And, it's a great time to be at this conference, too so. >> Alright. Thanks very much. >> Thanks for stopping by, Andrea Ward. I'm Jeff Frick, you're watching theCUBE from the Professional Business Women's Conference in San Francisco. Thanks for watching. (upbeat electronic music)