- Hello, I'm Tom Campbell coming to you
from the LG Digital Studio
at Georgetown University
School of Continuing Studies
In Focus today, making a
great technology manager.
I'm joined by John Taylor,
Senior Vice President
of Public Affairs and Communications
at LG Electronics USA.
John, welcome to Georgetown.
- Thanks for having me
and I'm so glad to be here
in the LG Digital Broadcast Studio.
(laughs)
- I've never seen
opportunity for our students
like this ever before.
Technology is the buzzword.
The artificial intelligence,
augmented reality,
Smart Cities, you name it.
I mean, it's phenomenal.
- Absolutely.
And, I have to tell you,
it's so exciting to be
at a company like LG
that's involved in all
of those areas and more.
- So what do you see for our students?
What do you see right now?
- Well, it's amazing horizon out there.
And I never would have imagined
when I was an English major
in Liberal Arts program
that I would be so deeply
entrenched in technology.
But it's such an integral
part of our lives today,
and I think it's an
amazing career opportunity
for managers, even a
non-technical person like myself.
I work with hundreds of engineers,
but I don't have the
engineering degree in the room.
- [Tom] Right, but
technology management, right.
- Absolutely.
- Right.
And the thing is, John, you take...
I mean, you've done so much.
You're on the Board of
the Customer Technology
Association.
It used to be called, by the way,
the Customer Electronics Association,
they produce the CE I
show you on that board,
as well as many others.
But you get more of a global
view of what's happening.
So what does that mean to our students?
I mean, opportunity's
like never before, right?
- Absolutely.
If you look at some of
the areas you mentioned
at the beginning here,
things like Smart Cities
and sustainable technologies
for cities and interactivity,
autonomous cars,
AI, all these various areas
are transforming our lives
and there are a lot of great companies
and consulting firms
and other opportunities
for employment after graduation
that are looking for very sharp students,
like those graduates that we produce here
at Georgetown.
- That is a very good point, John.
Let me ask you a question, then.
So for our students, how do
they make that connection?
We talk about networking, being involved
with these corporations.
I mean, for example, LG is more than...
Yeah, you're an electronics company,
but you're the technology company.
Looking at all that.
In fact, even the screens that we have
in the studio are the LG screens,
not to do a commercial,
but the point being
is that how does a student
make that connection?
I know you've had many openings
in technology management,
so how does one open that door?
- Well, there's...
Thankfully, at a place like Georgetown,
there's already this
built-in amazing network of
alumni and sponsors.
And we would urge students,
in both of the graduate level
and the undergraduate level
to tap into internships early on
to dip their toe in a
variety of different areas
to really find what is the right fit.
- Because there's so much available today,
there's no question.
- Absolutely.
- It used to be that glass ceiling.
I had students tell me,
"Well, gee, you know,
how do I get on a board position?
How do I get to report to
someone that's an authority?"
Well, today, the technology
people are right there,
either on the board, or as
a chief technology officer,
or, I mean, you name it,
there's so many
opportunities, John, it's...
- You don't have to be a technology expert
to play a big role in
the technology industry,
in the various parts of the ecosystem
that make up the
technology landscape today.
- You know, you meet a lot of people,
so I wanna know what is
the most important skill
that someone should try to focus on
and develop to grow in this category?
- Well, it's a...
- Somewhat of a broad
question, but what...
- I think that whether it's
in technology or management
in general, I think the
starting place is...
the ability to listen and learn.
I mean, one of the things
that I've always drawn on
from my background in
the Liberal Arts major
was the learning how to learn,
and always being inquisitive
and never stop learning,
because there's just so much.
It's such a fast-paced
area of technology today
that, you know, as long
as you listen and learn
and continue to...
And find mentors.
And there are many great
mentors in my career,
including yourself.
- [Tom] Thank you.
- Who I've looked up to
for many, meany years,
that you continue to learn from
and continue to find
ways to grow your career.
- Well, one thing when
you spoke to our students,
you talked about self-branding.
That's important, isn't it?
Self-branding.
- It is.
I'm not a social media
maven, by any means,
in my generation but...
I think...
- How you're perceived,
how people see you as a person.
- How you position yourself.
- Yeah.
- And I think that's
one of the great things
about Georgetown, that
you have this great Jesuit
education and people
come away from here
with a great sense of self,
and a sense of giving back.
Giving back to the community, as well.
- And there's so many areas, John.
Let me take a look.
Some of our students are
looking at maybe having
a federal job, working for the government.
Some in private sector.
Some in nonprofit sector.
And I'd met a number of students ...
Get ready for this
that wanna have a startup company.
They've got an idea in their brain,
they wanna start a company.
Look at Oculus, for example.
You and I met the founder who
got over a billion dollars,
remember that time?
In CES, he was sitting
on the floor, eating tofu
and, "Hey, look at this thing."
And there's a big, medal
thing goes over your head.
He sold it for a billion dollars.
- Yeah, and it's a pretty
fluid job market these days,
unlike myself, who's basically
been at the same company
for three decades.
People move around a lot.
And I think we all know
people that have moved
from the private sector
into government and back
and from corporations into startups.
I mean, this is what...
If you follow a trajectory
of your passions about technology,
and be on the leading edge of trends,
I think amazing
opportunities are out there.
- Well, this is fabulous.
Now, technology's always been a large part
of your background, John.
And a lot of our students
wanna learn how to
formulate a plan.
How to use the resources,
how to create your strategy.
Any thoughts on that?
- Well, it's...
We could for days about this.
(Tom laughs)
But I think developing
the strategy is, you know,
first and foremost,
it's important to listen
to your customers and
understand what the needs are.
And that's not...
We talk a lot about
technology and innovation,
but it's not technology
for technology's sake.
It's how do you impact customers' lives
and your customers' needs
by implementing technology?
- Absolutely.
Well, John, let me ask you.
What do you see as far as the students,
what the future is?
What are some of the
opportunities you see?
You touched on it earlier
a little bit about,
whether it be in sales, engineering,
social engineering.
What do you see?
What is going to be hot the next...
Say the next five years?
- Well, digital marketing, as well.
This technology
is such a broad platform
that it touches all of the business areas
that you might wanna get involved in.
Certainly, in IT.
IT managers are focused
on a lot of new areas,
like cybersecurity is
extremely hot these days.
You look at product
development, digital marketing.
I think people coming through school today
who are already very
steeped in social media
are gonna be well-equipped
to serve companies like ours,
to help communicate about
innovations and technology
to consumers, as well.
So, you know, when you think
of technology management,
it's not just managing engineers.
It's how do you tell a story,
how do you help your customers
and your business partners
understand the value that
your organization brings
from a technology standpoint.
- John, I could talk to
you for hours about this,
so let me just wrap up
with one thing here.
I know LG's known for like
the all LED screens, the TVs.
But you're in many other areas.
Give me just a fast overview of some
of other areas you're involved it.
- And we're seeing a lot
of convergence today.
I mean, a company like
LG, I think is uniquely
positioned because we
have hundreds of connected
appliances and everything
is connected to Wi-Fi
and the internet and they
talk to each other and...
- [Tom] Right, cellular phones.
- And at CES in 2018,
we're gonna do a deep dive
on artificial intelligence.
- [Tom] Really?
- And deep learning, and
how these technologies
can really transform your life.
So we're not just a TV company,
we're an appliance company,
we're a mobile phone company,
but all of these things
are coming together
in a connected lifestyle.
- Oh, this is fabulous.
Hey, John, thank you so much
for sharing your insights
with us today.
It's been a pleasure,
really, to have you here.
- [John] Thank you.
- And thanks to everyone
watching out there,
stay tuned now for more
from the LG Digital Studios
at Georgetown SCS, thank you so much.
