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Even 800-pound gorillas can be disrupted

"As CIOs, our responsibilities and our roles are transforming," says Frito-Lay's Kristen Blum. "We have to step out of our comfort zones every day.”
By CIO staff
CIO
Kristen Blum, Frito-LayFrito-Lay

At the CIO Perspectives event in Dallas last month, CIO Events Editor-in-Chief Maryfran Johnson sat down for a fireside chat with Kristen Blum, Senior Vice President and CIO at Frito Lay North America. Blum discussed how the company is constantly thinking about disruption despite being a market leader in the snack food industry.

“How do we make sure that somebody doesn’t come along and make us obsolete? There’s disruption going on every day. Don’t ever sit back and think, ‘I’m just going to perform business like I’ve always performed business, because we’re the 800-lb gorilla and no one can touch us.’ Au contraire. That’s not the case. No matter who you are and what industry [you’re in], if you aren’t thinking about how you disrupt, stay disrupted, and put the consumer above all else, you will be obsolete, I guarantee that.”

Register now to listen to the full audio of the Q&A session and learn more about why Blum says CIOs must step up their game to be better leaders with their business partners.

Kristen Blum, Frito-LayFrito-Lay

At the CIO Perspectives event in Dallas last month, CIO Events Editor-in-Chief Maryfran Johnson sat down for a fireside chat with Kristen Blum, Senior Vice President and CIO at Frito Lay North America. Blum discussed how the company is constantly thinking about disruption despite being a market leader in the snack food industry.

“How do we make sure that somebody doesn’t come along and make us obsolete? There’s disruption going on every day. Don’t ever sit back and think, ‘I’m just going to perform business like I’ve always performed business, because we’re the 800-lb gorilla and no one can touch us.’ Au contraire. That’s not the case. No matter who you are and what industry [you’re in], if you aren’t thinking about how you disrupt, stay disrupted, and put the consumer above all else, you will be obsolete, I guarantee that.”

Blum also discussed the onslaught of data that consumers are now providing to businesses, via social media and mobile devices. “The more granular the data gets out in the big world, the more we have to siphon through and find out what data is relevant to us.”

Click the play button below to listen to the full audio of the Q&A session and learn more about why Blum says CIOs must step up their game to be better leaders with their business partners.

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