#SMACtalk 80: The Failures and Successes of Enterprise Software with Pega CEO Alan Trefler

In this week’s episode of SMACtalk, hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman had the opportunity to speak with Pega CEO, Alan Trefler. Known for his “Pull no punches” approach to business, Alan makes for the perfect “SMAC” guest because he’s going to take questions head on and leave the audience wanting more. At Pegaworld, we found out that Mr. Trefler isn’t only the CEO at Pega, he is also a chess master who can engage in 20 simultaneous chess matches while enjoying a beer and having a chat with his customer and partner community. Impressive Alan!

In this show, we talked about a topic that Alan is uniquely passionate about, and that is the challenges of enterprise software. Knowing today’s importance on having tools that drive businesses forward, the Pega CEO believes that companies cannot risk investing and implementing software that is more hype than substance. We agree with this, but needed to make sure that this provocation from Alan wasn’t hype itself. This is where the interview came into play.

During this episode, Alan provided insights on the following questions and a few bonus questions that you will have to tune into to learn more about:

1. At PegaWorld, you mentioned the delusional behavior out there about software, specifically around cloud, AI, and bots. What is the industry getting wrong and how can it get back on the right track?
2. How can organizations “get real” and cut through the hype when it comes to these technologies?
3. You also discussed that many organizations aren’t getting it right when it comes to their end-to-end technology. How can organizations fully connect their organizations in a practical way?
4. You have been quoted saying that software is being built “wrong” these days. What do you mean by that and what should companies be doing instead?
5.  A lot of the recommendations you are making have as much to do with culture as they do with technology. How do you build a great culture to succeed with digital transformation and the shifting customer landscape?
6. What do you envision the future of software, apps, and CRM looking like? What will drive the biggest change to business (at Pega and beyond)?

Throughout this episode of SMACtalk, Alan takes on the challenging questions that many of us are wondering about the role of the CMO in today’s enterprise as well as how that may change into the near future as Digital Transformation continues to shape industries.

Following another successful #Pegaworld in Las Vegas, this show was a timely episode to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for software in your business and getting inside of the mind of CEO of one of the fastest growing software companies in the CRM and Customer Intelligence space. Want to learn more?  Tune in, check it out and enjoy the episode!

Disclaimer: This episode was sponsored in part by Pegasystems. To learn more about Pega, visit them at (www.pega.com)

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