Adriana (Andi) Karaboutis is Executive Vice President, Technology and Business Solutions at Biogen. Biogen was founded in 1978 by a group of visionary scientists. Today Biogen is one of the oldest independent biotechnology companies in the world, with $10 billion in annual revenues, specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative, hematologic, and autoimmune diseases. Prior to Biogen, Karaboutis was Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Dell. Karaboutis started her career in the auto industry where she spent 20 years at Ford and General Motors. Today, Karaboutis is accountable for technologies that provide insights for drug discovery and patient benefit. The CIO of Biogen, Matt Griffiths, reports directly to Karaboutis.
Andi Karaboutis - Executive Vice President, Biogen
Karaboutis has three functional responsibilities -- 1. Enterprise IT: core IT capabilities for Biogen including research, development and process manufacturing, and patient services -- 2. Global Data Office: a group of computer scientists, biologists, chemist, and PhD researchers who have worked in bioinformatics, computer science biology and related fields, working on managing a spectrum of analytics ranging from bioinformatics to patients and therapeutics. 3. Digital Health Tech: team focused on digital innovation including wearables and improvement of patient care and health.
I spoke with Karaboutis about the intersection of technology and business as it relates to disruption and digital transformation. According to Karaboutis, the scientist and research group at Biogen use technology from molecular biology down to the cell level, accelerating processes by reducing computational time and research.
Here are 11 takeaways from my conversation with Andi Karaboutis:
1. Technologists must understand the core business of their company -- Understanding the core business means operational insights, how the business is run, the working relationships of regulatory and compliance groups, tools and systems of record and engagement like CRM, ERP, MRP, and other core IT services. Karaboutis also emphasizes the understanding of interdisciplinary processes within your organization.
"You really need to understand the interdisciplinary processes of biology, Information Technology and computer science. It's at those cross hairs where you can really start helping the researchers and Scientists with their work," said Karaboutis.
2. To accelerate digital transformation and technology adoption, technologist must educate all stakeholders -- Karaboutis and her team partner with researchers to better understand the value of disruptive technologies. This level of collaboration also extends to partnering with research organizations like Columbia University and Harvard for example, in order to pull together ideas and solutions leveraging the community.
3. Digital transformation is not a destination but a journey -- Karaboutis reminded us of Steve Jobs' sage advice that the biggest disruption in this century is around the marriage of technology and biology. Organizations must continue to reach further and further outside of the company to better identify and capitalize on opportunities to innovate and add value. The timely recognition of opportunities to deliver differentiated value and service can drive disruption in the market.
4. The intersection of technology and business is mandatory -- Karaboutis strongly believes that being a business person and a technologist is mandatory if you are going to succeed. Technology leaders must understand the business strategy of their company, know the balance sheet, and company goals. Forward thinking business leaders must have both technology and business acumen.
"CIOs that lack true understanding of their business will not be successful. I have personally joined our sales teams on the road, visiting hospitals, providers and research laboratories to really understand how we do our processes," said Karaboutis.
5. The business expects technology to produce enterprise efficiency, reliability and insights -- the foundational requirements for IT is to deliver enterprise efficiency and reliability. The biggest growing demand is also for CIOs and technology leaders to deliver insights to lines-of-business. Karaboutis is focused on delivering insights to help the drug discovery and development processes and also the commercialization process. Her team is focused on reducing time-to-market while leveraging disruptive technologies.
The challenge for Karaboutis and her team is to be entrepreneurial in an industry that is highly regulated. By delivering timely and practical insights to the business, Karaboutis is demonstrating meaningful use of technology to help Biogen achieve its goals.
6. Startup and academic partnerships can accelerate digital transformation -- Karaboutis and her team work with venture capitalists and a number of startups around the world. Her team also works with a number of universities -- UCSF, Columbia, Harvard, and MIT. As a member of the MIT Media Labs, Karaboutis and her team look not only within their own industry, but they also look to learn from other industries, knowing that disruption opportunities can emerge from anywhere.
"We see startup innovation from a perspective of ideas and partnerships. We see academia as a huge source of innovation and information -- what I call a 360 degree view. Marrying all these engagements together will help Biogen propel forward with continued success," said Karaboutis.
7. Converting data to business insights is a team sport -- Karaboutis and her team know that the use of dynamic cloud computing technologies and proper connectivity is simply the price of admission to stay competitive and forward thinking. Biogen is a member of a 280 university and academic institution consortium will access to incredible data. The challenge is not access to this data, but analysis and conversion to insights, which require interdisciplinary constituents and subject matter experts in various fields like metabolic, genetic, protein, environmental and geographic data. In less research oriented industries, delivering business insights would require sales, services, and marketing constituents to collaborate.
8. Start with asking "what's the question we're trying to answer?": As you look to invest in new technology and innovation opportunities like the Internet of Things and wearables for example, Karaboutis and her team ensure full understanding the why.
Karaboutis says:
We are often asked to look at wearable technology like watches from Intel, Apple, Google and Samsung.
Before evaluating new technology, we must know what question we are trying to answer. For example, multiple sclerosis patients visit their doctors every six months. An appropriate question to ask is: what happens in between doctor visits? Perhaps we can use wearable technologies to determine motion as it relates to possible progressive MS signals. How can we use to technology to help our care providers with more patient insights in between doctor visits?
9. Innovative teams value velocity versus speed -- Karaboutis spends a lot of her time building teams and cultivating a culture that values alignment and teamwork. Valuing velocity versus speed means that the team is going in the same direction and then increasing speed as they go.
Strengthening team alignment starts with each individual respecting the unique skill-set of teammates. Team members value, respect and trust the individual capabilities of the entire team. Clarity around roles and responsibilities is also important.
10. Adopt a results oriented mindset -- Karaboutis believes that professional success has everything to do with adopting the right mindset. Ask yourself: what are the problems that we're trying to solve? What are the challenges? What are the goals that we are trying to meet?
Karaboutis and her team focus on the goal and how they can help Biogen achieve its goals. "Begin with the mindset: 'how do I contribute to the absolute most that I can?' When you do that, the opportunities present themselves. If you are focused on the desired outcomes, the results will come and the sky is the limit," said Karaboutis.
Karaboutis also believes that the right temperament is key to effectively managing a diverse group of professionals. Knowing that alignment is key to achieving the right velocity and speed, leaders must collaborate, educate and inspire meaningful change.
11. Do not start talking about photosynthesis -- Smart people use simple language. Karaboutis reminds her team to begin conversations with a clear problem statement, goals and objectives and a well understood path to a desire state.
When presenting an idea, do not start the conversation with photosynthesis. When communicating to business partners, start with the planet, continent, country, forest, tree, branch, leaf, and then photosynthesis.
As technologists, we often start talking at the photosynthesis level. Instead we should start with the problem we are trying to solve, our goals, and then work our way to the necessary levels. Start with the big picture, follow a clear and concise path, knowing that sometimes you just need to get to the tree, and not down to photosynthesis.