Talking Business

Ron Forrester

Chief Technology Officer at Blue Nile

Paul Gaffney

Paul Gaffney is a change agent with a unique perspective on successful enterprise technology and operations transformation. He led profound and durable improvements in technology, operations, and overall business results for several iconic American brands, including The Home Depot, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Kohl’s, Staples, Office Depot, and Charles Schwab. Paul has been a Chief Technology Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Supply Chain Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. Regardless of the title, Paul focuses on a human-centered approach to identifying and solving problems. His approach motivates team members to contribute to success in ways they previously thought impossible. He advises several early-stage companies and is an active executive advisor for Deloitte. Paul also delivers a popular and impactful keynote presentation on transforming from Project to Product. This talk was a vital feature of the 2022 DevOps Enterprise Summit, the inaugural 2022 Prodacity conference and eBay’s most recent internal TechCon, and several follow-on online events. He leads custom seminars and was chosen by the students as the lead-off speaker in the 2023 seminar series for MIT’s “Leaders for Global Organizations” dual master’s degree program. Paul has also been an early-stage executive at two start-ups: the initial CEO of Website Pros, now web.com, and the COO of Desktone, acquired by VMWare. Paul was inducted into the Chief Information Officer Hall of Fame by CIO magazine. He lives on Scraggy Neck in Cataumet, Massachusetts, with his wife Kate and their two black labs, Nike and Cosmo. Paul earned his A.B. in Computer Science from Harvard College and completed graduate psychology coursework at Harvard University. He is a 2009 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of, and Moderator for, the Aspen Global Leadership Network and the Institute’s seminars program.

Courtney Kissler

Courtney Kissler is senior vice president of Customer & Retail Technology for Starbucks. In this role, Courtney is responsible for delivery and performance across all retail platforms, including point of sale (POS) and store networks. She also drives transformational programs such as next-generation technology in Starbucks stores all over the world. Courtney’s engineering teams are responsible for extending customer digital engagement through world-class web and mobile experiences, supported by modern scalable cloud platforms and integrated services to build innovative solutions and enable business capabilities across the global Starbucks enterprise. Courtney returned to Starbucks in 2023 after serving as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Technology at Zulily, and as the Vice President of Global Technology at Nike, where she was accountable for building a re-usable seamless platform to power Nike Direct to Consumer experiences, core commerce services, user services, consumer data engineering and global retail solutions. Courtney also led Nike’s Global Supply Chain, Fulfillment and Logistics teams, and drove transformation across the supply chain ecosystem. Courtney was vice president of Retail Technology at Starbucks from 2016-2017, where she led global POS and retail store technology experiences. In all her leadership roles, Courtney drove transformation in ways of working, moving to more outcome-based delivery of technology using modern practices, including DevOps. She grew up in Spokane, Washington and moved to Seattle in 1997 after graduating from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems and a minor in computer science.

Scott Nasello

Engineering Leader

George Kraniotis

George Kraniotis is a distinguished software development executive with over seventeen years of transformative experience in the financial services industry. His career at Discover Financial Services has been marked by innovative leadership and a steadfast commitment to driving technological advancements. Currently serving as the Senior Director of Software Engineering at Discover, Kraniotis oversees the Core Platform, which supports all Discover cardmembers. Kraniotis is a recognized thought leader, having spoken at the IT Revolution’s DevOps Enterprise Summit in both 2022 and 2023. His presentations reflect his deep understanding of agile methodologies and his ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies. Kraniotis has a Master’s in Business Administration from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor’s in Management Information Systems from Bradley University. George is also an accomplished coauthor, with the publication “How to Talk Business: A Short Guide for Tech Leaders” providing valuable insights into bridging the gap between technology and business.

Dave Mangot

Dave Mangot (DevOps Patterns for Private Equity) helps private equity portcos get good at delivering software. He is a leading consultant, author, and speaker as the principal at Mangoteque. A DevOps veteran, Dave has successfully led digital, SRE, and DevOps transformations at companies such as Salesforce, SolarWinds, and Cable & Wireless. He has a proven track record of working with companies to quickly mature their existing culture to improve the speed, frequency, and resilience of their software service delivery.

Dhruv Parpia

Adrienne Shulman

Adrienne Shulman is the founder of Tenger Ways, a consulting company helping organizations navigate digital transformations by applying modern engineering practices to the world of traditional IT. Previously she served as vice president of global business operations at Cornerstone OnDemand, responsible for enterprise IT, business applications, and business intelligence. She is a passionate advocate for DevOps as a way to bring joy back into the workplace.