A View from the Top
Jim Smith, President & CEO of Thomson Reuters, Keynotes Outsell’s Signature Event
At Outsell’s Signature Event, it’s a tradition to hold our “View from the Top” session, and this year I’m thrilled to announce that Jim Smith, President and CEO at Thomson Reuters, is joining us to share his perspective on the year ahead. I love the transformation Thomson Reuters has made under Jim’s steady hand.
They embody “focused scale,” and the trend called “deconglomeration.” They have gone from myriad lines of business to becoming a focused corporate, having sold off IP & Science and Thomson Health prior to that. They have invested in Eikon, and in a platform strategy that we heard a lot about from David Craig, President Thomson Reuters — Financial & Risk, at last year’s event. He discussed the attributes of being a platform company and how they were looking at the equation. It is leading edge, and under Jim’s steady hand, Thomson Reuters is taking strong stands on the diversity front, investing in female leadership with a pronouncement that women would hold a minimum of 40% of the firm’s leadership positions by 2020.
The industry is ripe with change: cognitive computing, machine learning, and AI. New entrants emerge every day, but talent is a major issue and so is keeping ahead of the curve. Culture changes when a company goes from being multi-divisional, with many different businesses and markets to serve, to then needing to focus more broadly across the entire enterprise on a few concentrated markets. Jim has faced many of these challenges and continues to look ahead. Don’t miss the important messages and views he has to share at Outsell’s Signature Event. I’ll be meeting with him soon to finalize details about his keynote, so if you have ideas, let me know. Meanwhile, we say a heartfelt thank you to Jim in advance of joining us in Boston. We can’t wait to see him and you there, register today. If you are a members of Outsell’s Leadership Council, registration is included — a great benefit for a great event! We’ve got an amazing venue and a wonderful program taking shape. Mark your calendars, October 4–5 at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Anthea C. Stratigos is Co-founder & CEO of Outsell, Inc., the leading research and advisory firm focused exclusively on data, media, information, and technology. Get professional and personal lessons from a career spent mentoring successful leaders. Tell your story or ask a question — confidentially. Ask Anthea!
