Yasir Anwar's guest appearances

Yasir Anwar

Technovation with Peter High (CIO, CTO, CDO, CXO Interviews)

Joel Beasley | Modern CTO

Melting Pot

Archana Rao

Harry Moseley

Mark Papermaster

Art Hu

Tom Siebel

Bryson Koehler

Colleen Berube

Michael Smith

Sheila Jordan

Kevin Scott

Bill Murphy

Fletcher Previn

Jeff Smith

Peter High

Prakash Kota

OwlTail

567: In this interview, we discuss Williams-Sonoma’s digital transformation and how Yasir helped build a future-proof business model for the company that was able to not only withstand, but grow during the pandemic. He talks about the merging responsibilities of the CTO and CDO and what it means for the company to be “digital-first”. Yasir details how the company is focused on creating a frictionless customer experience, how digital and technology play a role in in-house design, and how Williams-Sonoma balances centralization with independence between their brands. Finally, we discuss what Yasir sees as the most salient trends in technology and digital coming out of the pandemic. Also available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPOEo7loq0&amp;ab_channel=MetisStrategy _____________________________________ This episode is sponsored by Apptio and Tanium.

567: In this interview, we discuss Williams-Sonoma’s digital transformation and how Yasir helped build a future-proof business model for the company that was able to not only withstand, but grow during the pandemic. He talks about the merging responsibilities of the CTO and CDO and what it means for the company to be “digital-first”. Yasir details how the company is focused on creating a frictionless customer experience, how digital and technology play a role in in-house design, and how Williams-Sonoma balances centralization with independence between their brands. Finally, we discuss what Yasir sees as the most salient trends in technology and digital coming out of the pandemic. Also available on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPOEo7loq0&amp;ab_channel=MetisStrategy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcPOEo7loq0&amp;ab_channel=MetisStrategy</a> _____________________________________ This episode is sponsored by <a href="https://www.apptio.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apptio</a> and <a href="https://www.tanium.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tanium</a>.

How Yasir Anwar Helped Williams Sonoma Become a Digital-First Retailer

William Sonoma

Today we are talking to Yasir Anwar, the CTO of Williams Sonoma.   And we discuss their exciting developments with AR and VR, creating an outcome based culture , and making sure your investments align with your passion to achieve success

#60 Yasir Anwar - CTO of William Sonoma Inc

Among other topics, Yasir discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy:    Working across internal departments and with external partners to reach customer-centric goals Advantages Macy’s has as a long-standing brand vs. competition from digital native organizations Digital development to create the “omni customer” experience Restructuring of the organization based on the customer’s journey—the use of “domains” Macy’s Labs and the focus on entrepreneurship within the larger organization Talent attraction    Yasir Anwar’s Biography Yasir is Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Technology at Macy’s, Inc., one of the nation’s premier omnichannel retailers, with fiscal 2015 sales of $27.1 billion. As the The company currently operates about 728 stores in 49 of the top 50 US markets under the names of Macy’s, Macy’s Backstage, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet and Bluemercury, as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites. Yasir is also the founder of Macy’s Labs, which Yasir describes as a “crucible for idea generation, feasibility analysis and experimentation.” Prior to Macy’s Yasir served as the Director of Engineering with WalMartlabs. I recently caught up with Yasir in his office in San Francisco, and our conversation covered World Class iT Principle 1, People, as we discussed attracting top talent in the Bay Area; Principle 2: Infrastructure, as we discussed building a technology architecture of domain services focused on outcome; and Principle 3, Project and Portfolio Management, as we discussed the creation of the ‘omni customer’ experience and shaping products based on customer feedback. We also covered how a long-standing brand like Macy’s can be leveraged in competition with digital native organizations, among a variety of other topics.

Among other topics, Yasir discusses the following issues with Metis Strategy: <ul> <li> <ul> <li>Working across internal departments and with external partners to reach customer-centric goals</li> <li>Advantages Macy’s has as a long-standing brand vs. competition from digital native organizations</li> <li>Digital development to create the “omni customer” experience</li> <li>Restructuring of the organization based on the customer’s journey—the use of “domains”</li> <li>Macy’s Labs and the focus on entrepreneurship within the larger organization</li> <li>Talent attraction</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Yasir Anwar’s Biography Yasir is Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Technology at Macy’s, Inc., one of the nation’s premier omnichannel retailers, with fiscal 2015 sales of $27.1 billion. As the The company currently operates about 728 stores in 49 of the top 50 US markets under the names of Macy’s, Macy’s Backstage, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet and Bluemercury, as well as the <a href="http://macys.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">macys.com</a>, <a href="http://bloomingdales.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bloomingdales.com</a> and <a href="http://bluemercury.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bluemercury.com</a> websites. Yasir is also the founder of Macy’s Labs, which Yasir describes as a “crucible for idea generation, feasibility analysis and experimentation.” Prior to Macy’s Yasir served as the Director of Engineering with WalMartlabs. I recently caught up with Yasir in his office in San Francisco, and our conversation covered World Class iT Principle 1, People, as we discussed attracting top talent in the Bay Area; Principle 2: Infrastructure, as we discussed building a technology architecture of domain services focused on outcome; and Principle 3, Project and Portfolio Management, as we discussed the creation of the ‘omni customer’ experience and shaping products based on customer feedback. We also covered how a long-standing brand like Macy’s can be leveraged in competition with digital native organizations, among a variety of other topics.

Yasir Anwar, Senior VP, Head of Digital Technology, Macy’s