Join Bob Lord ’85, IBM’s first Chief Digital Officer, Friday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the Blackstone LaunchPad for another in our “Fireside Chats with Famous Entrepreneurs” series as part of Family Weekend. The event is open to the SU community.
Bob is a graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, and is also a SU parent. He was instrumental in working with SU on last month’s “Call for Code” hackathon.
He is missioned with unleashing IBM to empower the world – giving business leaders, developers, startups and business partners an unparalleled experience with IBM’s products and services.
Bob leads the company’s Digital Strategy & Platforms, Digital Sales & Routes to Market, Developer Advocacy and Venture Groups, Client Experience, and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) & Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) solutions.
He has a wealth of experience in leading businesses through transformation, and brings deep technical and marketing expertise to his role. Before joining IBM, Bob was President of AOL, where he oversaw the company’s unified global advertising operations and previously served as CEO of AOL’s flagship technology group, AOL Platforms – used by over 2,500 brands and agencies and over 40,000 publishers.
Prior to AOL, Bob was Global CEO of Razorfish, one of the early web design and digital agencies. He held several leadership roles at the company before becoming CEO.
He brought his experience to bear in his book, entitled “Converge: Transforming Business at the Intersection of Marketing and Technology,” available on Amazon or Safari as an aid to transform industries.
Bob holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in engineering from Syracuse University. He serves on the Board for home retailer Williams-Sonoma. He also serves on the Board of Screenvision Media, a premier cinema, video and media organization. He is an active member of the TED community and a founding member of The Nantucket Project.
He enjoys biking, surfing, competing in triathlons and spending time with his family.