To ThoughtWorks’ CTO, talent doesn’t always come with an Ivy League degree

To ThoughtWorks’ CTO, talent doesn’t always come with an Ivy League degree 610 407 C-Suite Network

As CTO of a software consultancy with offices all over the world, Rebecca Parsons helps organizations like Amnesty International, the U.K. government, Target and Starwood enhance their digital strategies. According to Parsons, ThoughtWorks’ biggest asset is a bank of hard-earned lessons. With a Ph.D. in computer science from Rice University and years of industry and research experience, Parsons’ credentials are paralleled by few. But to her, curiosity is a far more important candidate trait than what’s on a resume.

What technologies power your business?

One of the things we’re most excited about this year is platform thinking: a methodology for making key technology decisions that will simplify our clients’ ecosystems, stimulate innovation and accelerate delivery. To remove friction and build ecosystems, we focus on key areas of delivery such as delivery infrastructure, architecture and API remediation, self-service data, experiment infrastructure and telemetry, and customer touchpoint technology.

Executive Briefings: Intersection of Leadership and Social Media

Our wealth of experience gathered across a range of clients and industries enables us to significantly accelerate and de-risk our clients’ efforts. We’ve fallen into the traps and potholes and found the escape hatches so that they don’t have to.

What is the biggest technological hurdle you’ve faced, and how did your team overcome it?

As consultants to enterprises looking to use technology to get ahead, we face many different technological hurdles daily. But perhaps the biggest challenge is not the technology itself, but in navigating what we call “the frozen middle” — the pre-existing gap between technology and “the business.” Breaking down silos and putting technology at the core of the business is critical to innovation and speed to market at scale — major factors…

Executive Briefings: Intersection of Leadership and Social Media