Sujey Edward

Chief Technology Officer, Federal Market, IBM Consulting

Sujey Edward is deeply dedicated to innovation and strategic disruption. After becoming a member of Octo, which IBM acquired in December 2022, in 2017, he revolutionized the position of chief know-how officer. Edward shifted his focus from merely advancing inside know-how for company effectivity to creating capabilities and distinctive features essential to fulfill the federal authorities’s crucial know-how wants. By collaboratively creating options along with his groups and clients, Edward fostered an organization tradition that prioritizes shopper mission success as a measure of feat.

A serious element of this focus was his from-scratch creation of Centers of Excellence. Working out of oLabs, a 14,000-square-foot R&D middle—the creation of which Edward championed—the CoEs concentrate on constructing capabilities wanted to efficiently help companies’ distinctive wants and differentiate the corporate out there. He additionally invested within the collaborative tradition he was constructing via initiatives that attracted and retained high expertise, together with:

• The oLabs Hackathon that encourages companywide participation and challenges workers to resolve actual buyer and enterprise issues.
• Octo University, which supplied workers no-cost technical, enterprise, management and certification coaching.
• Internships drawing undergraduate and graduate degree expertise from all around the world.
• Technical coaching made free and accessible to deprived and underrepresented communities.

Edward’s concentrate on constructing dynamic groups devoted to co-creating essentially the most related options for companies resulted in:

• 1,200-plus guests to oLabs, together with 100% of shopper companies.
• 150-plus interagency crew members, together with from GSA.
• 12-plus customized AI options, half of which give 360° tactical edge situational consciousness.
• The VA’s largest low-code/no-code implementation, which skyrocketed automation and productiveness.

“In government contracting and emerging technology, we see far too many cookie-cutter solutions developed without customer and user input, and not enough investment in growing technologists who have the skills and desire to co-create,” Edward mentioned. “I am proud of our culture. The impact of custom innovations collaboratively developed, coupled with our team’s contributions to customer success, has led to historic advancements. I am eager to see what our combined teams create next as we, under the IBM banner, empower existing and additional customers to jump the technology curve.”

Why Watch

Building on his success at Octo as IBM’s first federal market CTO, Edward will assist IBM’s service traces scale throughout the sector, whereas persevering with to guide oLabs and develop its co-creation strategy. Edward will additional enmesh oLabs and the CTO crew with IBM’s federal enterprise to reinforce its already spectacular options and providers in quantum, AI and hybrid cloud.

But most significantly, Edward will convey the mindset that established a distinct form of CTO group: the tradition of collaborative experience and superior capabilities rooted in custom-made improvement and agile innovation.

“Sujey’s visionary and herculean efforts to grow oLabs, his dedication to customers, colleagues and community, and his innovative spirit go beyond commendable,” mentioned Octo Founder Mehul Sanghani, who now steers technique for IBM’s federal market. “Sujey created a culture rooted in working alongside clients to build the most effective, durable, mission-enabling solutions. He is the embodiment of digital transformation, driving the government forward to ensure citizens are more efficiently served and better protected.”

Fun Fact: Edward coached highschool basketball for a number of years, profitable some titles and even receiving a suggestion for a school head coach place.

See the entire Top Chief Technology Officers to Watch in 2024 list here.