Unifying People, Processes, and Technology

Sari Vuola-Vuorinen, Head of Business Transformation, and Andrew Newson, Vice President of IT & Security (CIO & CISO) at ICEYE
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Episode Summary

In this episode, Markus Zirn, Sari Vuola-Vuorinen and Andrew Newson explore the intricate world of ICEYE, where business meets technology. Sari and Andrew share their experiences about transforming ICEYE's business processes, fostering collaboration and innovation, and optimizing their IT environment for agility. This dynamic duo, one steering business transformation and operations, and the other helming IT, open up about their unconventional approach to harnessing the power of diverse engineering domains within their teams. From discussing ICEYE's unique work culture and compelling journey to the importance of maintaining a balance between governance and democratization, their candid stories provide a captivating glimpse into the ICEYE experience.

  • Episode Key Takeaways

    Episode Key Takeaways

    • Prioritize collaboration and fusion teams: Foster a culture of collaboration by uniting diverse talents and harnessing their curiosity. Establish clear objectives to channel contributions effectively. Embrace fusion teams to promote cross-functional collaboration, bolstering synergy and driving transformative outcomes.

    • Embrace end-to-end eusiness processes: Emphasize a comprehensive understanding and management of business processes, from inception to completion, to optimize efficiency and deliver value to stakeholders. Shift focus from isolated tasks to a holistic view, ensuring seamless operation throughout.

    • Implement loosely coupled architecture: Andrew advocates that this strategy helps pivot and provide a consistent method of transferring data and integrating systems without disrupting core architectures. Embrace this approach for enhanced agility, facilitating rapid adjustments and scalability within complex systems.

    • Cultivate innovation and agility by embracing change: Be open to new ideas and encourage your team to trial and error for continuous improvement. Be able to adapt to learnings quickly. Manage tooling demands proactively, aligning with the pace of business evolution for sustained growth and competitiveness.

  • About Sari & Andrew

    About Sari & Andrew

    Sari Vuola-Vuorinen is the Head of Business Transformation at ICEYE. Sari has led international and complicated business transformations, and brings industry experience from Branded Consumer Goods, Wholesale & Retail, Professional Services, and Banking & Insurance.

    Andrew Newson is the Vice President of IT & Security (CIO & CISO) at ICEYE. He’s an experienced senior technology leader with a broad range of technical and business skills, with the ability to focus and align them with business objectives to create a comprehensive technology strategy. As a proven CIO, his leadership skills have built over 20 years in the industry, with the last 10 years in senior IT leadership roles.

  • Top Quotes

    Top Quotes

    “It's all about people and collaboration. And that's why I like the diversity in practice being also that we can, through the collaboration, bring very different people on, around the table. And curious people are committed to make the change. And then back to that, if you just are clear with the aspiration, the direction, the vision, and you then enable people to do their best, so miracles happen.” - Sari Vuola-Vuorinen

    “So Sari and I's approach here and with full buy in and cooperation from the business is to transform how the business operates. It's not just implementing a system. It's not just providing IT tools. It is fundamentally changing business process, changing the way that we work with our partners and our customers. And that really is a differentiator for me to have the opportunity to influence the core workings of a reasonably mature and sizable business is probably the unique thing. And my IT team and my security team are here to support that, to be a service provider that can enable all of that to happen.” - Andrew Newson