“Our competitors’ complexity is our opportunity.”
That’s what Box CEO Aaron Levie told Michael Krigsman and Vala Afshar in his CXOTalk interview earlier this year (you can watch the whole discussion in the video above).
At a time when enterprise IT is laboring under constant pressure from reduced budgets, outsourcing pressure, and escalating security challenges, Levie stands out as one of the most refreshing voices in the technology industry. He still believes there’s a lot of great work to be done in the enterprise and he’s not just a talking a good game. At Box he’s leading a team that is hyper-focused on solving enterprise problems.
Inc. Magazine named Levie its Entrepreneur of the Year for 2013 and its profile on the 28 year-old executive, “Don’t Bet Against Aaron Levie” by Eric Markowitz, is a good read.
In that profile, Inc. quoted one of Levie’s most famous tweets of 2013: “Tip: Take the stodgiest, oldest, slowest moving industry you can find. And build amazing software for it.”
Let’s hope that message inspired some top-notch entrepreneurs to tackle some of the most difficult and intractable challenges in the enterprise in 2014.
What other leaders have inspired you with fresh ideas for business and tech this year?
Research to go deeper…
- Research: The CIO as business catalyst – Role, relevance and value (Tech Pro Research)
- 500 Things Every IT Manager Needs to Know: Volume 1 (Tech Pro Research)
- 500 Things Every IT Manager Needs to Know: Volume 2 (Tech Pro Research)
