Corporate Vice President and CIO Dow Chemical Co. Dave Kepler is a practical risk taker. That’s not an oxymoron. It’s a guiding principle. In 27 years at Dow, the 49-year-old CIO has pioneered cutting-edge technologies, making Dow a leading user of IT, and that experience has taught him the difference between smart risks and foolish choices. “If you can understand what the issues are and be pragmatic when approaching something,” he says, “I think you know how to pick the right things.”Under Kepler’s direction in the mid-1990s, Midland, Mich.-based Dow was one of the first companies to successfully install an ERP system. Since becoming CIO in 1998, Kepler has driven Dow’s investment in Elemica, a B2B electronic marketplace, and been an early adopter of voice-over-IP technology to carry Dow’s telephone and data services. Kepler has also made some unconventional decisions to stick with legacy systems?notably migrating Union Carbide back to an old version of SAP after its merger with Dow. “His strategy around that is crystal clear,” says Stewart McCutcheon, CTO with Elemica. “He’s made his investment in ERP, and upgrading isn’t going to buy him much.” From age 12 through his early 20s, Kepler worked in his father and uncle’s hardware store in his hometown of Pleasant Hill, Calif. There, he picked up three pieces of wisdom: First, success depends on your relationship with your customers; second, cash flow is critical; and third, “spend money as if it’s your own because it is,” Kepler says. At the University of California in nearby Berkeley, he’d planned to become an oceanographer but “got into chemistry” and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. “Computers were being used [for] controlling plants, and that got me into the broader IT area,” he says. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe