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ISDS Hosts Breakfast With A CIO With Mike Whitaker as Guest Speaker

By Sadie Stetson

TAMPA (March 5, 2018) -- Innovation, determination, and cutting through the noise of the workplace were topics of discussion at the fifth annual Breakfast with a CIO, sponsored by the Muma College of Business Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department.

"Innovation is a pretty thing to watch," said Mike Whitaker, the global head of ICG Operations & Technology at Citi, "but you need to make it meaningful."

Whitaker, who flew in from the United Kingdom to be the guest speaker at the event, discussed innovation's place in technology, the importance of determination and communication hygiene in his talk to some of Tampa's IT leaders and USF students.

"I seem to remember agreeing to talk to some people in Tampa for about five minutes," he joked, before continuing on to explain various challenges found in today's information technology workplace.

The event not only served as a networking mixer for USF's Tampa business partners and students, but also as an inspiring event where those same guests can meet and listen to thought leaders in the technology industry.

Whitaker's presentation had an amicable tone, though he did deliver some key advice.

"I am more interested in the idea-to-implementation ratio: What have you gotten done?" he said. "Hooking up things that work together to deliver is what matters."

He also shared a maxim that past speaker Mark Ashton-Rigby borrowed from him.

"Determination defeats brilliance," said Whitaker, who has always sided with the underdog. He also spoke about taking care of your own business first and not 'minding other people's gardens' to the detriment of one's own work."