Daniel Wakeman ’90 B.S. in Computer Science, will present a Department of Computer Science Colloquium lecture on Friday, February 16, 2024, from 3-4 p.m. in Rekhi 214 and via Zoom online meeting. The title of Wakeman’s talk is, “How Software has Become the Business.”
Presentation Abstract
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, software has transcended its traditional role as a tool and has emerged as the cornerstone of modern enterprises. This talk explores the profound shift I’ve seen over my career, where software is not just a support function but the essence of business operations, innovation, competitive advantage, and disrupter.
Speaker Bio
Dan Wakeman serves as an SVP in the FIS Technology Development organization where he leads the Engineering Enablement function.
As a passionate technology executive, Dan is a thought leader in digital transformation with extensive experience leveraging next-generation technology solutions to resolve business challenges, improve operational performance, gain market recognition, and enable business growth.
With 20+ years of experience leading IT organizations in diverse industries including education, non-profit, and Fortune 500 companies― FIS, Dow, Dupont, and IBM―Dan has provided oversight for teams ranging in size from 10 to 1000, managing capital and expense budgets of up to $225 million.
He was the visionary CTO and strategist behind the launching, management, and sale of an innovative new venture, ElastomersSolutions.com to Elemica.com. He also successfully led technical due diligence for eight acquisitions, merged multiple companies into their parent company, and divested assets of acquisitions. He spent 12 years as the CIO at Educational Testing Service.
At FIS he led the technology team that designed and built the initial Ethos big data platform. More recently he has been leading an ambitious DevSecOps initiative to migrate the FIS strategic enterprise platforms to a common Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, which has already reduced time to market by 25%, while simultaneously improving quality.
Motivated by working with smart, innovative people who bring positive change to the world, Dan achieves results by recruiting, developing, and retaining top talent, and inspiring unity toward a vision of a better future.
Dan is a renowned speaker on digital transformation, enterprise architecture, and the benefits of adopting digital technologies to align IT and business strategy and create business growth.
In addition to securing multiple company awards, Dan is a recipient of Computerworld CIO Premier 100 IT Leaders, was inducted into the Michigan Technology University Academy of Sciences and Arts, and was awarded the Information Week Top 500 Innovation award in 2013.
Dan received an MBA from Central Michigan University and a BS in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University.