MN Tech Mag | Spring/Summer 2021

MN Tech Mag is a Concord publication devoted to improving the relationship between business and technology, starting our home state of Minnesota.

A C O N C O R D P U B L I CAT I O N

Andrea Walsh CEO of HealthPartners Maintaining Momentum

Cargill

From Bytes to Bites PAGE 06

Thomson Reuters

PAGE 28 Retaining a Diverse Workforce

JUNE 2021 | ISSUE 3

PUBLISHER Stu Nutting

EDITOR IN CHIEF Natalie Sheffield

DESIGN Brea Marsh Steve Bubb

PHOTOGRAPHY Joe Lemke

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Andrea Walsh Chris Goggin

Dave Fabry Elizer Darris Emily Hunt-Turner Ivaylo Guenov Jason Schumann John Goeppinger Natalie Sheffield Rick King Susan Davis-Ali, Ph.D.

A CONCORD PUBLICATION 509 2nd Avenue South Hopkins, MN 55343

concordusa.com 952.241.1090

SUBSCRIBE mntechmag.com

COVER STORY Maintaining Momentum 10

MEDIA INQUIRIES communications@concordusa.com

Andrea Walsh is leading HealthPartners - and the community - through the next phase of the pandemic.

What’s Inside

ISSUE 3 Spring|Summer 2021

5 UPCOMING EVENTS

We compiled a collection of the best virtual, hybrid, and in-person events on the horizon this summer. 6 TRENDING TECHNOLOGY From Bytes to Bites As one of the world’s largest agriculture and food companies, Cargill’s technology team is taking bold steps to transform and digitize food supply chains. 9 BY THE NUMBERS Companies across the country are analyzing their return-to-work strategy. We delve into the numbers behind remote work – and how employers and employees really feel about it. 16 THE INNOVATORS Not Your Grandma’s Hearing Aid Dave Fabry, Starkey’s Chief Innovation Officer, shares how the company is changing the hearing aid game, one innovation at a time. 19 THE TOP 12 An assortment of apps that can increase your productivity, improve your wellbeing, and keep you endlessly entertained. 20 FIGHTING THE GIANT Big Tech is coming for your talent. Concord’s Chief Technology Officer, Ivaylo Guenov, shares how to protect your investment in people. 24 TITANS OF TECHNOLOGY Get a glimpse into the playbook of some of Minnesota’s top technology leaders as they share their most significant challenges and priorities this year.

RETAINING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE The pandemic erased five years of diversity, equity, and inclusion progress for women in the workplace, but Susan Davis-Ali, Ph.D., and Rick King share how to remedy the situation.

32 RELEVANT HEALTH ROUNDTABLE Q+A: Chris Goggin As the Chief Operating & Technology Officer for CareCentrix, Chris focuses on creating a patient experience that emphasizes the whole person. 34 RELEVANT HEALTH ROUNDTABLE How to Bring Healthcare to the Consumer

Enjoy insights from our latest panel featuring experts from Prospero Health, Bright Health, and Children’s Minnesota. 38 PHILANTHROPY RULES! A Legal Revolution in Minnesota In Minneapolis, All Square is building a Prison-to-Law Pipeline to ensure incarcerated scholars have access to a law degree. 43 QUIPS & QUOTES All the local love! Minnesotans share their favorite small businesses to support, from restaurants to retail.

What’s Inside | 03

Editor’s Note

I heard somewhere that it takes 66 days to form a habit. After the last 437+ days of pandemic living, the world has collectively formed a lot of new habits. The way we work, shop, eat, relax, and interact with others looks radically different – that’s not exactly a revelation; we’ve all watched the changes unfold in real-time. The interesting part? Returning to the “old” normal might take some effort. I’m finding it rather difficult to break some of these newly ingrained habits. Going back to the office just once a week, for example, makes me wonder how I did this daily at one point in the not-so-distant past. Starting my day in the home office takes significantly less planning – I don’t need to match my shoes to my outfit, pack up a laptop bag, or hop in the car to commute. Plus, my stash of at-home snacks is rather appealing. When I do gather the energy to head into the office, though, I’m pleasantly surprised by how normal it feels. Seeing a few coworkers and settling into my desk just feels…right? Waving hello and chatting with the occasional passers-by is a welcome change from the solitude of my home office window. In an internal survey at Concord, we found that 46% of our employees believe they perform their job most effectively in a hybrid office/remote model. I would place myself in that category, as well. The return-to-work question is facing most employers – we gathered a few statistics that might be useful as you’re considering your strategy (page 09).

Many of the individuals and organizations featured in this issue are contending with habits formed during the pandemic. Andrea Walsh, CEO of HealthPartners, shares how the organization is working to maintain the accelerated pace of change in the future (page 10). Dave Fabry, Chief Innovation Officer at Starkey, explains how the company innovates to improve the speech audibility of mask wearers for the hearing-impaired (page 16). All Square is taking advantage of remote learning to dissolve barriers to legal education for incarcerated Minnesotans (page 38). As we enter the next (and, hopefully, final) phase of the pandemic, I’m interested to see what habits from the past year stick around. Only time will tell!

Natalie Sheffield Director of Marketing, Concord Editor in Chief, MN Tech Mag

04 | Editor’s Note

UPCOM I NG EVENTS

June 8-10 | Microsoft Azure + AI Conference Orlando, FL Artificial Intelligence is the future of software, and Microsoft is a key player in the AI space through the Azure platform. Learn about the latest offerings from Microsoft’s leading executives.

TIBCO NOW

8-10 | Snowflake Summit: Data Together Now | Virtual

Data is everywhere and holds the keys to unlocking your organization’s success. At the Snowflake Summit, you’ll learn how to use the Data Cloud to unify, analyze, and share data previously out of reach. July 20-21 | Gartner Tech Growth & Innovation Conference | Virtual The global pandemic accelerated technology disruption and shifted buyer behaviors. Gartner’s conference provides a post-pandemic guide to thriving and managing high growth for technology service providers. 20-21 | Devops Days Minneapolis, MN + Virtual Connect with thought leaders, practitioners, and contributors providing opportunities to learn, explore, network, and transform IT performance and the future of software delivery.

Leadercast Shift

Black Hat USA

September 24 | OWASP 20th Anniversary Celebration | Virtual The OWASP Foundation is celebrating 20 years of securing the world through challenges and discovery! Join industry leaders worldwide for a live, virtual celebration.

August 5-6 | Digital Summit Minneapolis Minneapolis, MN This two-day event covers topics ranging from content, email, and social to data, UX, and strategy. Past speakers include heavy hitters from Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, and HBO. 9-13 | HIMSS21 Global Health Conference Las Vegas, NV + Virtual The HIMSS21 Global Health Conference & Exhibition is the can’t-miss health information and technology event of the year. Professionals throughout the global health ecosystem connect and share ideas to enhance healthcare education, innovation, and collaboration.

27-30 | TIBCO NOW Virtual

TIBCO NOW focuses on making innovation more predictable and

repeatable so companies can deliver fresh, compelling customer experiences and optimize operations using the latest technology trends.

22 | National CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards | Virtual ORBIE winners from InspireCIO

11 | Leadercast Shift Cincinnati, OH + Virtual

This year’s leadership conference will focus on the major shifts leaders must make to achieve their purpose personally and professionally. Plus, Rainn Wilson (The Office) will be there.

Leadership Network chapters across the US will be honored in the inaugural National CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards.

31 - August 5 | Black Hat USA Las Vegas, NV + Virtual

Rainn Wilson

Black Hat USA is the world’s leading information security event, providing attendees with the very latest in research, development, and trends.

Digital Summit Minneapolis

Upcoming Events | 05

TRENDING TECHNOLOGY

FROM BYTES TO BITES Inside Cargill’s Tech Quest to Feed the World

By: Jason Schumann A s one of the world’s largest agriculture and food companies, Minnesota-based Cargill is on a mission to innovate the industry on a historical scale. By 2025, there will be 8.1 billion people on the planet needing access to safe, quality food that fuels daily life in more sustainable and transparent ways. Advancements in applying technology to meet these demands are core to delivering on Cargill’s global mission and driving business transformation for this 155-year-old company and its 155,000 employees to serve customers on every corner of the planet. Leading the technology charge is Cargill’s Chief Information Officer, Justin Kershaw. In 2015, he started to oversee all aspects of information technology across the company’s $115 billion global portfolios of agriculture, food manufacturing, trading, and financial business. Cargill’s technology team includes over 2,000 information technology professionals, technology strategists, and an extended network of external partners, data pros, and up- and-coming entrepreneurial talent working to solve some of the world’s agriculture and food challenges. AGRICULTURE MEETS INNOVATION Cargill’s team is implementing a series of tech programs addressing the operational needs Cargill and its customers face today, while projecting what applications are needed in the future as food demand increases and climate challenges continue to grow.

Cargill’s CIO, Justin Kershaw

06 | Trending Technology

“Given the global scope of our work at Cargill, we can impact the way entire supply chains function around the world,” shared Kershaw. “It’s an opportunity that our team and partners take on every day understanding that what we develop has implications on the quality of life and the environment on a very macro, global level.” The key to Cargill’s technology transformation is approaching the work from an entrepreneur’s mindset with agile methodologies that propel the tech startups of Silicon Valley. About five years ago, Cargill set out to become a leader in digital technology – an area where the food and agriculture sector had historically lagged – because the company recognized that technology would play an outsized role in advancing the industry both in food production and in sustainability. Cargill made a bold move in establishing Digital Labs, a place where Cargill’s teams could go for inspiration, engineering, and digital experimenting. The Digital Labs team helped businesses explore the art of the possible. Cargill engaged with Techstars, an accelerator program for startups in Minneapolis, and partnered with agricultural programs at universities from the Midwest to the East Coast, Europe, South America, and Asia. Digital Labs recently established an internal incubator program called EDGE, where in-house teams can test digital business ideas and win internal funding to scale their startups. “Coming off of our Techstars accelerator programs and participation in the Twin Cities Startup Weeks, we set up EDGE inside Cargill to spark new solutions for unique customer needs,” added Kershaw. “Our work spans the full value chain from inputs, growing, processing, trading, and consuming to tackle next-generation business challenges and opportunities. Sustainability and climate is a focus.”

THE CUTTING EDGE Although relatively new, the in-house EDGE program is already bringing new applications online to solve challenges customers have faced for generations. One EDGE-backed idea that’s gaining traction is the Digital Saathi app for farmers in India. This application improves the livelihoods of small landholder farms by providing access to information and advisory services on weather, crop practices, pest and disease control, and market price data. It connects farmers to third-party service providers in the ag value chain process. In the food service industry, another internal startup called Hot Take provides a new mobile platform for restaurants to gain real-time feedback from their customers. Lastly, GrainBridge, LLC is a joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland Company. Through this partnership, Cargill developed a suite of digital solutions, including tools that provide grain marketing decision support, e-commerce, and account management. Ultimately, the technology makes the farmer’s life easier by eliminating stress and emotion from the grain marketing process. It enables farmers to make more informed, efficient decisions, providing access to real-time data and insights through a straightforward platform. “Collaborations with other ag companies are the way forward for all of us to prosper,” explained Kershaw. “By creating a more transparent system where we all bring our best ideas and resources to the table, we’re better able to identify the best solutions to solve our collective challenges and bring tools to the market faster that can improve the whole market.” To that end, Cargill is busy creating privacy-focused solutions for distributed applications that provide a blockchain-inspired networking space for communication and transactions between organizations. Splinter is the first-of-its-kind open- source solution that allows participating members to combine blockchain-related technology, such as smart contracts and consensus engines, to build a wide variety of organized data systems. The results deliver more real-time inventory data and supply chain visibility to reduce food waste at the origination point and across supply chains. The transparency and live interaction with multiple partners bring quick solutions to participants’ entire value chain network.

Trending Technology | 07

THE FUTURE OF TRANSFORMATION Cargill is developing open-source software that will transform and digitize food supply chains. At the same time, the company serves as a key investor in independent startups forging new ground for the industry. In 2018, Cargill invested in Ireland-based Cainthus, which uses artificial intelligence with smart cameras to observe nutritional, behavioral, health, and environmental activities of cows and cattle. That data enables the farmer to make better decisions to improve farm operations and animal health. Cainthus has commercially installed cameras on a dozen farms in the U.S., monitoring thousands of cows. Bushel, an independent software company based in Fargo, North Dakota, is creating software that reaches 40% of grain origination in the U.S., creating the largest technology network among growers and grain buyers with $22 billion in contracted grain within its ecosystem. Cargill has been a supporter of the business and was key in its most recent round of capital investment this spring. Every day, Cargill’s technology is tracking and sharing vital data with business partners to inform better operations, including more efficient shipping patterns, factory automation, and satellite tracking that monitors land use and climate conditions. Apps built by Cargill teams use AI and machine learning to reduce waste, such as iQuatic, which provides highly accurate data on shrimp feeding habits. Others leverage predictive analytics that rely on chicken sounds to adjust their care plan. Such seemingly minor changes can help ensure more precise feed usage and production, with a positive effect on animal welfare and ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to its incubator enterprise, Cargill opened an Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. The lab, led by the company’s own Digital Labs staff, is working directly with Cargill business leaders, operations teams, and customers to move digital ideas into test mode within weeks.

Kershaw (center) at the launch of the Univ. of Ill. Cargill Innovation Lab

“

“This pipeline of talented software engineers and data science students is allowing us to modernize our worldwide supply chains and food systems quickly,” expressed Kershaw. “We need to keep pushing the boundaries of what technology can do. Given the success we see with our advancements and strategic partnerships in the tech industry, I look forward to seeing how we’ll continue to innovate and push ahead to meet the demands of the world.”

08 | Trending Technology i chnology

Cargill Headquarters | Wayzata, MN

BY THE NUMBERS

By the Numbers | 09

COVER STORY

Maintaining Momentum INTERVIEW BY: NATALIE SHEFFIELD

10 | Maintaining Momentum

With optimism to move out of the pandemic, HealthPartners CEO Andrea Walsh has meaningful goals to keep up the pace of change to improve the community’s health and wellbeing.

Maintaining Momentum | 11

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM

F irmly established in the belief that healthcare is built on trusted relationships, Andrea Walsh is leading HealthPartners through the next phase of the pandemic with care and grace. Our conversation with the Minneapolis/St. Paul B usiness Journal’s 2021 Executive of the Year revealed her passion for health and wellbeing, commitment to collaboration, and ability to achieve results that make a difference – for the organization and the community.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Rochester, Minnesota, Andrea spent her childhood in the Midwest. She returned to Kansas for her undergraduate college degree, attending the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk, Jayhawk) for a degree in Business and English to pursue her passion around language and communications. Like every college senior, Andrea considered her various career paths and ultimately decided to pursue a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. “I thought a law degree would allow me to blend that business and English background in a different way than an MBA,” shared Walsh. So, how did she get here, as the Chief Executive Officer of the largest consumer governed nonprofit health care organization in the nation? “I come from a healthcare family. My dad, grandfather, and great- grandfather were all physicians. Living in a family surrounded by healthcare for the majority of my life, interestingly, I didn’t think that healthcare was where I would necessarily end up,” she says with a laugh. Walsh made several interesting stops throughout her career before ending up at HealthPartners. One of her earliest working experiences started at St. Mary’s hospital cooking and serving in the cafeteria – an early taste of the health care system. During law school, she enjoyed the moot court litigation courses and began her litigation career at Rider Bennett.

“That firm was fantastic – great people, I learned a lot.”

12 | Maintaining Momentum

When presented with the opportunity to switch gears, Walsh seized the moment to leave the legal practice and join the Minnesota Health Department in a role as Assistant Commissioner. During a change in administration, Governor Carlson was interested in filling his cabinet with individuals spanning broad and deep experience in diverse areas. “I was selected to serve in that role, and, for me, that really opened up a lot of opportunities to learn and understand public policy in new ways. It tapped into my passion around healthcare,” shared Walsh.

In 1994, Andrea jumped back into healthcare and landed at HealthPartners, where she would hold numerous different roles across the organization. Her diverse experience, spanning from Government & Community Relations, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer, prepared her to lead the company. “Having the opportunity to serve in a lot of different roles [helped me] to know and understand the needs of our patients, members, and colleagues in different ways. It’s been a really fantastic place for me to spend a career,” Walsh explained. While some organizations typecast employees into a particular role and path, HealthPartners encourages the opposite and supports employees in transferring across the organization to gain broader experience. “Being able to move around without being labeled has kept me – and many leaders – at HealthPartners,” she says while adding, “It’s intellectually challenging and leads to more fulfilling work.” MAINTAINING MOMENTUM For the past four years, Walsh has been at the helm of HealthPartners as CEO, helping the organization move forward in its mission to improve health and wellbeing. Like nearly every leader at the onset of the pandemic, Walsh faced – dare we say it – unprecedented circumstances. “One thing was clear – we needed to adapt quickly and use all of our capabilities to care for our members, patients, and colleagues and support their health,” stated Walsh.

The HealthPartners team did just that.

In the early phase of the pandemic, the organization moved to video visits in one week and trained over 2,000 clinicians to use Google Duo in a matter of four days. Within six weeks, video visits constituted half of all appointments. “By February [of 2021], we hit the one-millionth video visit mark!” exclaimed Walsh. HealthPartners offered telemedicine before the pandemic, but the entire healthcare industry underutilized the service. “For comparison, we had conducted a few hundred video visits before the pandemic, and we weren’t sure whether it could replace a telephone or in-person visit. Now we know how important video visits will be in the future,” she says.

Maintaining Momentum | 13

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM

For many organizations, the pandemic jumpstarted productivity in an unmatched way. HealthPartners is no exception – the advanced pace of innovation and adaptability synonymous with the early stages of the pandemic is a silver lining in the crisis. “One of the bright spots for us is [learning] we can move fast and take bold steps forward. That it’s possible – and still occurring,” revealed Walsh. HealthPartners is maintaining the momentum to make changes and meet needs as urgently and quickly as possible. “I see that showing up today in the work we’re doing around vaccination,” she shares. ‘‘ We believe that health is built on trusted relationships, and technology is an important part of that.” To reach patients of color and ensure vaccine equity exists across the population, HealthPartners is scrutinizing and pivoting communication efforts. “As we started to send out invitations for vaccinations via email, we noticed that our Hispanic members and patients weren’t scheduling appointments,” explained Walsh. “We shifted to text and sent out 700 messages to English-speaking Hispanic patients – within two hours, eighty people responded to schedule an appointment. It’s a great example of meeting people where they are and using technology to solve a problem,” she says. Now HealthPartners has translated texts into Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. “Pre-COVID, we might have taken that step, but over the course of several months. Our mindset now is [focused on] when we get our vaccine; we

HealthPartners recognizes the vital role technology plays in achieving its very mission. “We believe that health is built on trusted relationships, and technology is an important part of that,” asserted Walsh. The IT department is in lock-step with the rest of the organization every step of the way – a seemingly rare quality in larger organizations. It’s not always easy to foster a collaborative culture, especially when there are historical barriers between business and IT. “The clarity around our purpose, our priorities, and why we do what we do creates alignment,” described Walsh. “I feel really good about the interaction across our organization and the partnership between our information technology teams and the connections with the rest of the organization. We are one HealthPartners,” she elaborates Trust is the foundation of collaboration at HealthPartners. “We really focus on every single interaction. Each gives you the opportunity to build trust or break it,” declares Walsh. “Building trust involves knowing and caring about the people you’re working with and the problems you’re looking to solve,” she adds. So often in healthcare, workers are deeply entrenched in the day-to-day and possess a career of healthcare knowledge. Looking at problems from the consumer side can be challenging. “It’s easy when you’re sitting in a health system to assume you know the problem someone is trying to solve because you think you’ve seen it before. If you don’t take the time to really listen and understand someone – you may solve a problem; it just may not be the problem most relevant to the health care consumer,” Walsh explained.

want to get shots in arms within three days of our shipment. COVID created urgency and a need for speed,” Walsh expressed. The next challenge is making the pace of change sustainable going forward. “We’re going to need to move faster than we’ve moved historically,” Walsh shares; however, “Some of the paces of change needs to slow up so people can catch their breath and we can find a new normal.” Employee burnout is a particular consideration. “We’re really conscious of that. We’re doing a lot of checking in with colleagues,” asserted Walsh. Across the organization, caregivers and office workers alike faced a tough year. To combat employee fatigue, HealthPartners unveiled many new web and mobile tools to help support colleagues. Wellbeats, for example, is an online and mobile fitness platform that offers 500+ classes ranging from yoga and mindfulness to biking and strength training. “We moved what would have formerly been outside […] onto screens,” she says. Studies show there is power in connection at work, and these tools offer another form of support for coworkers. Taking care of mental and physical health at work is key to avoiding burnout. “We need to be in for a marathon, not a sprint. You can run a series of sprints for so long – it creates muscle and strength – but rest is important,” acknowledged Walsh.

THE DYNAMICS OF TECHNOLOGY

Technology underpins nearly every pivot HealthPartners made through the pandemic. “Over the past year, technology has given us important tools to stay safe and stay connected,” voiced Walsh.

14 | Maintaining Momentum

‘‘ My hope is that as a community, we don’t take our foot off the accelerator to bring about change in so many needed areas”

– Andrea Walsh

“We have used a lot of our COVID experience to “road test” the plan – what we learned over the past year, where do we need to accelerate or do things differently,” described Walsh. “Setting our 2025 goals helps us articulate what it looks like when we achieve our vision and mission,” she added. Making healthcare and coverage simple and affordable is a huge priority for HealthPartners. Likewise, eliminating healthcare disparities for women and children, emphasizing women and children of color, tops the list. “There are inequities in the Twin Cities community – some of the worst in the nation – our goal is to eliminate healthcare disparities in maternal and infant health,” emphasized Walsh. Looking ahead, it’s clear that Andrea has optimism for the future as we come out of the pandemic. “My hope is that as a community, we don’t take our foot off the accelerator to bring about change in so many needed areas,” she states. Undoubtedly, Walsh will be at the forefront, pressing forward to make a difference in her community’s health and wellbeing.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS What does the future hold for HealthPartners? An unwavering commitment to the mission. Last year, the organization unveiled a new set of ambitious health objectives called “2025 Partners for Better Health Goals.” These align with the company’s efforts to improve health and wellbeing, increase affordability, and create the best experience possible.

As part of these efforts, HealthPartners plans to:

Emphasize their new summary measure of health and wellbeing to provide an overall measure of success and progress towards improving health and wellbeing in the population. Monitor patient-reported outcomes to reveal whether the care provided produces the outcomes patients expect. Focus on partnerships in the community since most of what contributes to individual health and wellbeing happen outside the care system.

ABOUT HEALTHPARTNERS

HealthPartners is an integrated, nonprofit health care provider and health insurance company based in Bloomington, Minnesota. Founded in 1957, HealthPartners commits to improve health and wellbeing in partnership with members, patients, and the community. Their focus is on making health care simpler and more affordable.

Create care and coverage that is simple and affordable for patients and members.

Prioritize a healthy start for every child and eliminate health care disparities for women and children of color.

Maintaining Momentum | 15

THE I NNOVATORS

By: Dave Fabry // Chief Innovation Officer Not Your Grandma’s Hearing Aid

Starkey is changing the hearing aid game, one innovation at a time.

S tarkey was founded in 1967 by Mr. William F. Austin, better known as Bill. It has since grown into one of five (and the only US-based) major hearing aid companies responsible for more than 90% of global hearing aid sales. Based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, our focus since inception is innovating in the market with patient-focused technology and services. Our purpose – to connect people through better hearing – is driven by our mission to serve our customers better than anybody else. During the past 54 years, we have grown to over 5,000 employees around the world. Hearing Loss as a Global Health Issue The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are approximately 466 million individuals worldwide with a “disabling” degree of hearing loss; this number is estimated to nearly double to 900 million people by 2050. In 2020, however, only 17-19 million hearing aids were sold – worldwide – suggesting that hearing aids are used by less than 5% of those with hearing loss. In the United States, the adoption rate is better. However, in 2020, only one in three individuals with hearing loss use hearing aids. While accessibility and affordability to hearing aids and hearing care are barriers to use, the stigma surrounding hearing loss and hearing aids remains a huge challenge.

16 | The Innovators

Reinventing the Hearing Aid In 2018, Starkey launched Livio AI as the industry’s first hearing device to use embedded sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reinvent the hearing aid and redefine expectations regarding modern hearing aid performance. This device serves the fundamental need of ensuring outstanding speech intelligibility and sound quality in quiet and noisy listening environments, while also enabling hearing aid users to monitor physical activity such as steps, exercise, and standing throughout the day. It even monitors social engagement, including metrics on usage, other talkers, and listening environments. Results are displayed with our Thrive smartphone application designed to help people “hear better and live better” by focusing on conditions with high comorbidity to hearing loss, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, risk of stroke, and diabetes. By motivating hearing aid users to be physically active and socially engaged, Starkey is transitioning hearing aids from single purpose devices into multi-purpose, multi-function ones that provide a gateway to overall health and well-being. Livio AI was the first hearing aid to incorporate sensors capable of detecting falls and providing text alerts with physical location to trusted contacts via text message. Even mild hearing loss increases the risk of falls threefold – this feature provides peace of mind for caregivers and family members so their loved ones can remain safe and live independently in their own home, if they so choose. In 2019, we expanded Livio AI features to include real-time translation, transcription, and voice commands that focused on “ease of use” for hearing aid users. These are not “your grandmother’s

hearing aids.” With multifunctional utility, our devices can stream phone calls, podcasts, navigation instructions, and music directly from iPhones and an increasingly wide array of Android phones through a simple user interface. By focusing on form and function, we started to hear from patients that instead of being stigmatized by hearing loss and hearing aids, their family and friends began to think that their hearing aids were actually “cool.” In 2020, Starkey continued the hearing aid revolution with the introduction of Livio Edge AI with “Edge Mode,” which put the power of Artificial Intelligence at the hearing aid user’s fingertips. In often challenging quiet or noisy listening environments, a simple tap or touch on the hearing aid initiates an instantaneous acoustic optimization for speech audibility unique to that listening environment. We launched this newest feature in January 2020 with optimism and enthusiasm for the year ahead. COVID-19 Changes Everything Six weeks after the launch of Livio Edge AI, the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in North America. Older individuals were among those most vulnerable to the virus, and as a result, were fearful about visiting clinics and retail shops for hearing health care. Although hearing loss may occur at any age, first-time hearing aid users’ average age is approximately 70 years old. As a result, the second quarter of 2020 saw business decline by more than 80%. This reduction was devast at ing to many audiologists and hearing instrument specialists; many small business owners shuttered their offices to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Under Starkey President and CEO Brandon Sawalich and the Executive Team, Starkey initially focused on providing

The Innovators | 17

Dave Fabry

Bill Austin speaking to employees

virtual webinars for our customers to help them better understand new challenges stemming from the pandemic. We covered many topics, including applying for Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans, using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), keeping patients and employees safe, accessing curbside and telehealth services, and best practice methods to safely provide essential hearing healthcare services during the pandemic. Starkey partnered with Eden Prairie-based Lakeview Industries to assist with assembling face shields for first responders and healthcare workers. “Disruptive Innovation” and the Pandemic People with hearing loss experience significant communication challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Face masks attenuate sound, making it nearly impossible to read lips or see facial expressions. Social distancing guidelines double or triple the usual distance for conversations, compromising lipreading and reducing speech audibility. Online chats for work or socializing have poor sound quality. Furthermore, hearing aid users often find that face mask ear loops become tangled with hearing aids worn behind the ears. Many people gained a greater appreciation for the essential role hearing plays in connecting with others. With these concerns in mind, we adapted our offerings to best serve our customers. After hearing from Livio Edge AI users that “Edge Mode” provided significant benefits when they encounter individuals wearing face masks and using social distancing, we optimized our product for the current environment. We went back into the laboratory, measured the impact of different medical-grade, fabric, and transparent masks, and further adapted “Edge Mode for Masks” to optimize speech audibility for hearing aid users during these most challenging times. By putting the power of AI at the patient’s fingertips, we provided innovation for a use case that had not existed just months earlier.

In January 2020, we launched the industry’s first custom in-the-ear, rechargeable 2.4 GHz device that enabled direct connection with a smartphone or tablet. Unlike hearing aids that fit behind the wearer’s ear, custom devices remain securely in place when the hearing aid wearer is placing or removing face masks throughout the day. The rechargeable battery provides over 19 hours of battery life, even when streaming Zoom or Teams calls for hours a day. Finally, Starkey quickly adapted our fitting software in response to practitioner requests to expand our telehealth capabilities. This group wanted to include both real-time (synchronous) and “store- and-forward” (asynchronous) services to enable remote hearing aid programming and fine-tune without requiring face-to-face clinical visits for minor adjustments. The combination of these three innovations led to a significant recovery in the second half of 2020, with Livio Edge AI becoming our most successful product in history. Renewed interest in custom devices has resulted in the highest increase in completely in-the-ear devices in decades. Compared to previous years, the use of telehealth quadrupled in 2020, and many clinicians adopted remote fine-tuning as part of ongoing clinical practice. There is no silver lining from COVID-19, but necessity was the mother of innovation for Starkey. As Nietzsche (Friedrich, not Ray) said, “He who has a why can bear almost any how.” Last year was a testament to that statement. Starkey’s purpose since our founding is to build caring products that connect people through better hearing. Our mission is to serve our customers better than anyone else. In conjunction with professional expertise, our technology delivers optimal benefits for those with hearing loss. Our vision is to lead the world in hearing health and wellness for patient-driven care.

Livio Edge AI

With Livio Edge AI, the power of artificial intelligence is at your fingertips, giving you never-before-possible sound performance in the most challenging listening environments. Choose from a standard rechargeable style — or the world’s first custom rechargeable hearing aid — and give yourself the edge you deserve!

18 | The Innovators

THE TOP 1 2

APPS to download now TOP TWELVE

Duolingo With over 30 languages, there’s something for everyone to learn in this free,

Calm We could all use a little more zen. Calm curates relaxing content to meet your goals - reduce stress, improve productivity, eliminate anxiety. Wellbeing

addictive app. Each lesson caters to different aspects of learning a new language, including writing, listening, speaking, and hearing. Education

Whether you want to improve your productivity or escape in a little mindless entertainment, there’s an app for everyone.

LastPass The average person has 90 online accounts with unique email and password

Flipboard Your one-stop shop for all the articles, blogs, videos, and news stories that matter to you. Simply define the topics you care about and Flipboard

combinations to remember. Stop resorting to the “Forgot Password” fallback and get a password manager. Productivity

will do the rest. Entertainment

Evernote From meeting notes to grocery lists, Evernote tackles it all with style.

Noisli Can’t work when it’s too

Capture (and search) what matters most - the organizational possibilities are endless. Productivity

SuperCook SuperCook provides recipes based on ingredients you have on hand. Wellbeing

quiet? Easily distracted by television or music? Noisli provides the perfect mix of ambient noise to help you work, sleep, or just relax. Wellbeing

Peloton It’s not all about the bike! Peloton’s app allows you to live stream fitness classes. From walking to HIIT and everything in between. Wellbeing

TikTok There’s so much more to TikTok than meets the eye. Sure, it’s meant for teens

Venmo Basically a household name, Venmo is your go-to app to split a bill or pay back someone you owe. Financial

with short attention spans, but, with the right follow, you can learn new recipes, master a language, or just be endlessly entertained. Entertainment

Forest Forest blocks out distractions from notifications and endless

Mint A fresh way to manage your money, Mint consolidates all accounts, spending, and budgets in one place. Watch your net worth grow! Financial

scrolling while growing little virtual trees - leaving you free to focus on important projects or stay present with the people around you. If you leave the app…the tree dies. Don’t kill the tree. Productivity

The Top 12 | 19

F I GHT I NG THE G I ANT

By: Ivaylo Guenov Concord Chief Technology Officer GIANT Big Tech is trying to take your people – here’s how to protect your investment. Fighting the

In 1997, McKinsey & Co. coined the phrase “the war for talent” to describe the competitive nature of recruiting top candidates. In the tech industry, it’s a war that’s never won. When you’ve secured a great candidate or invested in an employee’s training, other companies come along to poach them from under you and profit off your effort.

T ech giants are known for accumulating pandemic put a halt to the expansion of their physical office space. Pinterest reportedly paid $90 million to break the lease for their new Silicon Valley offices, where they planned to expand. Other giants like Google and Amazon show no signs of slowing down their brick and mortar expansions. But whether they continue to move into new cities or not, the pandemic has altered the way Big Tech recruits and perceives the accessibility of talent. property in cities worldwide and scouring local companies for their best talent. For some, the The move to remote work over a year ago proved to be more efficient for many companies. Beyond that, many employees opt out of return-to-work scenarios to favor the convenience and work-life balance remote

work provides. The result is a massive expansion of permanent or partially remote employment opportunities. This shift opens the floodgates for tech giants to recruit previously inaccessible talent from around the country and beyond. At a range from 2.4% to 4.6%, tech unemployment is consistently less than half of the overall rate of unemployment in the country, despite increases in job insecurity from the pandemic. Even when tech unemployment is at its highest, there is still a scarcity of talent in the ever-growing industry. Competitive hiring practices are an inevitable part of operating a tech company, but that doesn’t mean you have to surrender your best talent.

20 | Fighting the Giant

FOSTER A CULTURE OF BELONGING In today’s climate of remote work, poaching happens with greater ease and far fewer warning signs. Tech giants can recruit your employees anytime, anywhere. Employee retention has to be an ongoing effort rather than an isolated battle. Facebook recently announced plans to reach a 50% remote workforce in the next ten years. Similarly, Google and Twitter made it clear that the nature of work at their companies will not return to the way things were pre-pandemic. As these companies continue to expand and remote operations improve, more and more people will take remote positions. An increasing number of companies will gladly shift to pay structures that compensate employees based on their local cost of living, creating an even bigger push to hire outside of Silicon Valley. For companies outside of hub cities, that means their top talent is likely to be targeted by recruiters. In Nashville, Amazon announced that the average employee salary would be $150,000, more than double the city’s annual average salary of $63,856. The ability to out-pay competitors, combined with the prestige of a big name, makes tech giants particularly appealing to workers. Your best defense is one that highlights your unique culture rather than trying to fight a (losing) financial battle. Cultivating a desirable culture goes far beyond stocking your office with snacks or adding another ping pong table to the break room.

Amazon’s HQ in Seattle

RECOGNIZE THE RISKS You can’t properly defend your castle if you don’t know your enemy. The best first step to prevent poaching is to understand the risks and identify your biggest threats. The majority of talent poaching happens between tech giants, with companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook swapping thousands of employees each year. If you’re not one of those companies, mass poaching often happens when one of these giants opens or expands offices in your area. In 2018, Amazon announced plans to establish Nashville as its East Coast logistics hub and hire 5,000 jobs. According to Amazon executive Jay Carney, the company starts with local talent everywhere they go. In Nashville, where a significant amount of tech training initiatives points to the lack of available tech talent, “starting local” means recruiting employees from local companies. As tech giants expand, the already tight job market becomes even tighter. Your first line of defense against mass poaching efforts starts by tracking the moves these companies are making. Amazon, for example, continues to expand in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, New York, Phoenix, and San Diego, as well as several more cities outside of the U.S. Other major corporations are taking advantage of the lack of income tax in places like Texas and Florida. Their major cities are experiencing a massive tech boom despite the economic strain of the pandemic. Preparing for big industry moves like these can help protect against mass poaching, but you need to go beyond reading the local business news to retain employees.

Fighting the Giant | 21

PUT TECH FIRST Most people are in tech because they’re passionate about solving complex problems and being on the cutting edge of new solutions. When you create an environment where employees can work on the challenges that motivate them and feel free to share their ideas, you foster a sense of ownership in the work that feeds their passion. More ownership leads employees to produce better work, find more creative solutions to problems, and gain a greater sense of loyalty to their company. These practices are essential in today’s work climate, where burnout happens often and employee turnover may surge as the pandemic subsides. CLOSING THOUGHTS Companies need to be proactive to retain talent when tech giants come knocking. Before the pandemic, that was only likely to happen when giants like Amazon opened offices in your area. However, with the increasingly remote workforce, your top talent could be poached by a tech giant at any time in any place. You may not have the prestige or capital of Big Tech. Still, you can defend against poaching by cultivating a culture of belonging and growth, giving your employees ownership over their work, and emphasizing cutting- edge technology. In turn, you will attract more great employees and reap the benefits of their ongoing professional growth.

Tech giants can outspend you on fun, but no amount of money can replicate your unique company culture. Recent studies show that driving employee happiness is no more than an ideological aesthetic – it can actually have negative outcomes like increasing exhaustion and reducing joy. A desirable culture is not about perpetual happiness. It’s about having a place that feels like home with room to grow. Prioritizing a sense of belonging and development over happiness means that employees feel connected to the team – and the company at large – even when things are difficult. Tech giants can outspend you on fun, but no amount of money can replicate your unique company culture. “ – Ivaylo Guenov Concord CTO To foster a sense of belonging, each employee needs to feel respected and heard within the company. At Concord, we encourage individual teams to form their own identity. Taking control of your team culture gives employees a sense of ownership and creates a stronger bond with their colleagues. There are other, more concrete ways to ensure your employees envision a future with your company. Employee surveys, career counseling, and mentorship opportunities all help employees see how they can achieve their career goals and fit into the company’s future. Financial planning services and continuing education are impactful initiatives to cultivate a culture that supports and empowers employees. The key is to demonstrate that everyone has a growth path at your company, and you aim to help them achieve it. These efforts add value beyond just financial compensation and encourage open exchanges between different position levels, which can set your company apart from competitors with a big checkbook.

22 | Fighting the Giant

JOIN OUR TEAM

More than just consulting, Concord is an execution company helping clients solve their digital, cloud, and integration challenges. A career at Concord allows you to contribute to meaningful initiatives, grow as a professional, and shape the culture of the organization.

Visit concordusa.com/careers to join a team of passionate humans!

MN Tech Mag | 23

TWINCITIESCIO ADVISORY BOARD

Mike Larson SVP & CIO Agiliti | SVP & CIO

Titans of Technology Get to know the TwinCitiesCIO

What are your top priorities for 2021?

Continued focus on multi-year company-wide digital transformation effort affecting all line-of-business applications, modern data integration architecture, customer-facing solutions and business intelligence/ analytics solutions. Continue maturation of security posture focused on new/evolving threats. We plan to c ntinue o r focus on a multi year, company-w de digital transformation effort aff cting ll line-of-business applications, m dern data integration rchitect re, customer-facing so utio s d business intelligence/analytics solutions. We will contin e to ma ur curity posture by focusing on new and evolving threats.

Advisory Board members guiding the direction of the local InspireCIO network.

Rachel Lockett CIO l Pohlad Companies | CIO What challenges do you hope to solve this year? t ll

The InspireCIO network is the destination for CIOs across the country. Our local Twin Cities chapter is led by some of the brightest technology minds in the state representing prominent companies across a wide range of industries including healthcare, government, agriculture, and manufacturing. These leaders set the direction for events, membership, and the annual ORBIE Awards program – more than that, they collaborate to tackle pressing challenges for their collective organizations. We asked each of the Advisory Board members to provide their take on key challenges, upcoming priorities, and what’s on their “to-do list.”

I hope to make progress in developing the next level of technology leaders across our organization, building a deeper bench of resources ready to step up and fill leadership roles and also increasing the diversity of backgrounds, thoughts and perspective in the technology leadership level. , l i r i t

Ross Gilbertson SVP/CIO Ross Gilbertson Northern Tool & Equipment | SVP/CIO What are your top priorities for 2021? We recently launched a mul i-year busi ess transform ti What are your top priorities for 2021? We recently launched a multi-year business transformation initiative that is heavy on technology modernization, specifically focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences. We are also in the process of establishing a Global Capability Center, to help support our aggressive growth plans over the next 5 years. initiative that is h avy on technology moderniz tion, specifically focused on delivering exceptional customer experiences. We are lso in the proc ss f establishing a Global Capability Center to help support our aggressive growth plans over the next 5 years.

24 | Titans of Technology

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44