Umbrex

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Andrea Boeri. A summary of Andrea's experience follows. "I advise entrepreneurs, senior managers and investors on strategic initiatives, such as growth strategy, transformation, innovation, sales excellence, business model design, performance improvement, organizational and team effectiveness, change management, planning forecasting and controlling, M&A. I provide field-tested advice, based on 38 years of international experience (27 as a consultant and 11 as an executive, in 10 Countries in Europe, North and South America, and several industries), as a senior strategic consultant (today as an independent advisor, previously with McKinsey & Company, and Value Partners – which I co-founded), as a corporate senior manager (with Pirelli), as a co-founder and non-executive director of a deep tech startup (Phononic Vibes), and as a mentor of technology-driven scaleups."

Challenges Facing Data Center Developers Alan Cordova shares an informative article on AI and the data center boom, including increased energy demands, and sources. In the past few years, data centers have become the most in-demand asset in the power industry. Demand for computing power has skyrocketed as energy-intensive generative AI tools have started to achieve widespread adoption. According to Goldman Sachs, these tools are much more energy-intensive than their predecessors - a ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times as much electricity to process as a Google search - and, consequently, data centers are forecasted to overwhelm incremental gains in energy efficiency achieved through the evolution of the computing technology. McKinsey forecasts that data center power consumption will rise from 147 TWh / year in 2023 to 606 TWh / year by 2030. Read the full article, SparkNotes: AI and the Data Center Boom, on SparkNotesBeehiiv.com. https://lnkd.in/eSbEw-Kp

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Austin Bankhead. Austin has worked in B2B Revenue Operations, Sales and Marketing for over 20 years and has built revenue operations functions at two unicorn companies. Prior to founding Unicorn Revenue Operations, Austin led sales operations at Snap Finance, where he drove changes to career paths, coverage, compensation, performance management, and training that enabled Snap to hire over 70 Sales and Client Success reps, achieve triple digit revenue growth, and secure a large capital infusion. Before Snap Finance, Austin led sales operations at Qualtrics, where he built a 40-person global sales operations team that supported a industry-leading global sales organization. From 2013 to 2018, Qualtrics sales org grew from 70 to 800 people and generated 40-50% YoY revenue growth, resulting in $8 billion acquisition by SAP. Prior to Qualtrics, Austin held senior marketing roles at Adobe where he helped launch executive marketing, business value consulting, and industry marketing teams. Before Adobe, he held CMO roles at two early-stage B2B healthcare start-ups and led a range of strategic sales, marketing, and product initiatives at La Quinta. Austin’s early career was shaped at PwC and McKinsey & Company. He earned his MBA from the University of Chicago and received a degree in Accounting from BYU. He is fluent in Spanish and has served multinational clients located in Spain.

Big Pharma M&A Brad Hariharan, MBA shares a concise post on the Big Pharma Biotech slump with a link to the original article. Big Pharma Biotech M&A Slump in 2024 - is the answer early-stage private companies instead? Interesting insights from Bloomberg on the evolving trends in healthcare M&A. Pharma giants are now eyeing smaller, private firms with promising early-stage drugs, signaling a strategic shift. This move highlights a period of strategic digestion and the rise of innovative biotechs in the private market. Although blockbuster deals are paused, the industry's quest for innovation persists. Anticipate a surge in M&A activity as the current pipeline matures. Link to Bloomberg article in comments Access the post on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gCKSMUrJ

Strategic Planning Redefined Stephen Butler explains why strategic planning is an oxymoron and how it differs from tactics and plans. It's that time of year: companies are starting to think about their strategic plans. But should they? "Strategic planning", as ex-head of University of Toronto Rotman Business School Roger Martin has pointed out, is an oxymoron, like "zero tolerance" or "unbiased opinion." "Strategy" is about how we will make money: what will make clients spend money on our goods and services. "Planning" is about expenses: what we will do to make the above happen, and be ready for it when it comes. It's no surprise there's so much confusion. Most b-schools continue to use #MichaelPorter's model of strategy which focuses on price vs differentiation—and basically comes down to whether you're in a commodity business or not (hardly anyone is) and doesn't offer much guidance for leaders. Does the confusion matter? Yes—because as Martin, Alex M H Smith and others keep highlighting—the word "strategic" has become so diluted as to be slapped on virtually anything without adding meaning." Read the full post on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gYbMTv5C

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Stephen Butler. Stephen is a management consultant, entrepreneur and keynote speaker focused on productivity and engagement. After beginning his career with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), he worked as a capital and commodity markets development executive and startup/tech CEO. He was a founding member of BDC’s Growth Driver Program for High Impact Firms, and now serves clients from the midmarket to the Fortune 500 as a partner with Framework Advisory (Canada) and Sagely Advisory (US). His 2024 TEDx, “Why Your Job Isn’t Meaningless,” has attracted over 26,000 views, and his book (with Karissa Price) Why Is a Verb: How Well-Managed Teams Turn Purpose Into Productivity was a #1 Amazon bestseller in Business Teams Leadership. Stephen holds a PhD in Social and Political Sciences (Cambridge), a BA (Hons) in Economics and Political Science (McGill), and taught at Harvard as a Visiting Fellow. He and his wife divide their time between Calgary and San Francisco, and have three children.

The ROI on AI Frank M. shares a company post on AI adoption and the reality of its return on investment. The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way companies operate, innovate, and compete. From automating customer service to enhancing product development, AI is at the forefront of modern business strategies. According to a recent MIT Sloan report, over 50% of high-performing companies with more than 5,000 employees are now leveraging AI in some form1. However, the vast potential of AI remains untapped by many businesses, leaving room for significant growth and opportunity. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/g-_uE5rz

A Primer on Effective Communication Carly Vivian explains what effective communication is, is not, and how to do it. "In times of significant organizational change, leaders must navigate the delicate balance of delivering precise messages while maintaining a strong connection with their teams. Precise communication is essential for informing the organization about critical events and activities and ensuring legal requirements are met. However, an unintended consequence of tightly scripted formal messages can be losing connection with employees, damaging productivity, diminishing morale, and fostering resistance. A communication strategy for change should stand on equal footing with all other business frameworks, fundamentals, and revolutionary strategies. Effective change communication is one of the most crucial activities a leader conducts during transitions. Unfortunately, many managers don't feel adequately trained or prepared for this task. What Effective Change Communication Is NOT...." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gbfCikrQ

Leadership and Power in Knowledge, Big Data, and AI Richard Carriere shares an insightful view on the Internet of Things and where leadership could take us. As we witness Google’s current challenges and reflect on its role in shaping the digital age, it's worth revisiting one of humanity’s oldest insights: “Knowledge is power.” Coined by Sir Francis Bacon in 1597, this axiom has stood the test of time, encapsulating an enduring truth about progress. Yet, paradoxically, the rise of the Internet, and specifically Google, has both democratized knowledge and simultaneously redefined its value, leading us into a new era where power lies not in knowledge itself, but in the ability to process it. From Knowledge to Big Data The birth of the World Wide Web in 1989 paved the way for the democratization of information, and a decade later, Google’s search algorithm further amplified this by making virtually all publicly available knowledge accessible at the click of a button. As search became seamless and ubiquitous, Sir Bacon’s adage was rendered obsolete, replaced by a new reality: in the digital economy, the true commodity became data—specifically, consumer data." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gZnM3AJi

Addressing Bias with Awareness Ramya Mahalingam shares a personal story that illustrates how storytelling can help deal with bias. "Happy Friday! Today, we’re diving into a bit of a personal story. I first started traveling on business in the fall of 2016. I was a Sr. UX Architect at Cardinal Solutions, and I was about to start a project based in Tampa, FL. I was to go down there for a week to meet the team and get cracking on laying out the product we’d be building. I was SO excited. This was my first real grown-up business trip! I channeled visions of my dad walking out the door in a dark blue suit and small black carry-on as I selected pieces from my modest collection of (Macy’s and H&M) business casual outfits and packed them into my own rolling carry-on (red, but still – very official!) Feeling like a million bucks, I got into an Uber and was ferried to the airport by a kind, chatty gentleman, who bid me farewell with a, “be safe!” I was a little surprised. I thought I was channeling high-powered, dad business trip energy. He seemed to feel I was giving naive and vulnerable. I walked through the airport, passed through the boarding counter, and got another, “be safe!” Walked off the plane, thanked the flight attendant, and got a, “be safe!” Then another one from the Uber on the other side. Then another one at the hotel check-in." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gMrsyCJD